The share market has edged higher as gains by miners and energy companies offset weakness in the retail and healthcare sectors.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index rose 0.1 per cent to 6,135.8 points, its fifth straight session of gains.
Morgans client adviser Tim Evans said financial, telco and utility stocks made ground, but it was the miners and energy companies that kept the market in positive territory.
"The mining sector has led the market higher as it has done throughout the Christmas period with Rio Tinto and BHP hitting multi-year highs," Mr Evans said.
"This is on the back of stronger commodity prices across the board."
As iron ore and base metal prices rose, Rio Tinto gained 2.3 per cent to $79.87, BHP Billiton added 1.7 per cent to $31.06 and Fortescue Metals was 1.5 per cent stronger at $5.31.
Woodside Petroleum lifted 0.8 per cent to $34.65, Oil Search was one per cent higher at $8.06 and Origin Energy climbed 1.5 per cent to $9.76.
Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank was the only one to fall, down 0.7 per cent, while Commonwealth Bank gained 0.7 per cent, ANZ rose 0.4 per cent and Westpac lifted 0.1 per cent.
Discretionary consumer related companies struggled, with Aristocrat Leisure down 1.7 per cent to $22.66, Tabcorp down 1.8 per cent to $5.33 and Crown Resorts 0.1 per cent weaker at $12.94.
In the healthcare sector, CSL dropped one per cent to $141.90 and Cochlear shed 0.4 per cent to $173.50.
Retail Food Group fell 6.1 per cent to $2.32 after it issued a second profit warning in less than a month, saying the timing of new licence agreements overseas would mean its half year net profit will be lower than the $22 million it predicted on December 19.
The Australian dollar gained ground against the US dollar on the back of the lift in iron ore prices.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 was up 5.4 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 6,135.8 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 5 points, or 0.08 per cent, at 6,241.5 points.
* The SPI200 futures contract was up 7 points, or 0.12 per cent, at 6,088 points.
* National turnover was 4.8 billion securities traded worth $6 billion.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1700 AEDT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 78.54 US cents, from 78.41 US cents on Monday
* 88.50 Japanese yen, from 88.78 yen
* 65.64 euro cents, from 65.23 euro cents
* 57.86 British pence, from 57.84 pence
* 109.31 NZ cents, from 109.36 NZ cents
GOLD:
The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEDT was $US1,319.20 per fine ounce, from $US1,317.75 per fine ounce on Monday.
BOND SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEDT:
* CGS 4.50 per cent April 2020, 2,0017pct, from 1.9772pct on Monday
* CGS 4.75pct April 2027, 2.6214pct, from 2.5969pct
Sydney Futures Exchange prices:
* March 2018 10-year bond futures contract at 97.325 (implying a yield of 2.675pct), from 97.345 (2.655pct) on Monday
* March 2018 3-year bond futures contract at 97.865 (2.135pct), from 97.88 (2.12pct)
(*Bond market closes taken at 1630 AEDT previous local session; currency closes taken from 1700 AEDT previous local session)
Wall Street’s major indexes inched higher on Tuesday as financial, healthcare and industrial stocks extended the new year rally powered by expectations of strong quarterly earnings.
Stocks continued their winning streak in 2018 as investors remained hopeful about global economic growth and tax-cut led gains for corporate earnings in a low interest rate environment.
“So long as inflation remains at around these levels, it will certainly support the multiples that we have,” said Tim Dreiling, regional investment director for The Private Client Reserve of U.S. Bank.
“We’ll watch inflation to see if that unexpectedly rises and could cause some concerns about earnings compression.”
After a lukewarm December jobs report, investors will look for fresh signs of pickup in inflation from the monthly consumer price data due on Friday.
At 12:29 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 113.05 points, or 0.45 percent, at 25,396.05 and the S&P 500 was up 7.16 points, or 0.26 percent, at 2,754.87.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 11.28 points, or 0.16 percent, at 7,168.66.
Fourth quarter earnings season is set to begin on Friday with big banks and will give investors more details on the impact of tax cuts on companies’ performance.
Earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to rise 11.8 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with an 8 percent increase a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
A handful of retailers including Target, Kohl’s Corp and Lululemon Athletica have already reported solid rise in same-store sales for the holiday period and raised their profit forecasts for the fourth quarter.
Boeing jumped 2.4 percent, lifting the Dow the most, after the company said it delivered 763 jetliners in 2017, likely retaining the title of the world’s biggest plane maker.
A 2 percent rise in Johnson & Johnson and a 6.4 percent jump in Boston Scientific helped the S&P health sector gain 1.03 percent.
Bank of America and Goldman Sachs rose more than 1 percent, tracking a rise in U.S. 10-year Treasury yields, which hit a 10-month high after the Bank of Japan said it would trim its purchases of Japanese government bonds. [US/]
The interest-rate sensitive utilities and real estate fell about 0.9 percent.
Technology stocks were lower, led by Intel’s 1.8 percent drop. Performance of the systems running on the chipmaker’s processors decreased after Microsoft Corp released patches against security threats.
Advanced Micro Devices slipped 3.5 percent after Microsoft suspended patches for computers running AMD chipsets after complaints that the updates froze their machines.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,594 to 1,253. On the Nasdaq, 1,460 issues fell and 1,406 advanced.
Source: Netwealth Morning Business Roundup
Get some greens in ya with an Asparagus Frittata and enjoy a tropical Peach and Mango Kefir Smoothie.
Happy trading, play nicely and make informed decisions.
