The local share market followed Wall Street higher this morning as resources stocks continued to bounce off last week's lows.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was up 26 points or 0.57% at 4676, driven by gains in the mining sector +1.5%, materials +1.4%, health +1.2% and gold +1.1%. Telecoms was the worst performing sector, down 3.2% thanks to selling in Telstra after Friday's static earnings outlook.
Local sentiment was boosted by a profit upgrade from Qantas. The airline said it expects first-half profit before tax to be around $150 million. "Operating conditions have improved when compared to the second half of the 2008/09 financial year," the airline said. Qantas was the biggest gainer in the benchmark ASX 200 index, rising more than 6%.
Asian markets were mostly higher. Japan's Nikkei added 0.6% and Shanghai 0.12% but Hong Kong's Hang Seng was off 0.31% in early trade. Dow futures were at +9.
Crude oil futures rallied 30 cents to $73.36 a barrel. The spot gold price edged $2 higher at $1,114.30 an ounce.
A solid morning here but far from flawless. Took profits on GOA from last week. Scalped the bounce on WTN but just a puny part-filled order. Used the bounce in BKN to exit for a skinny profit from Friday. Got into MML too soon but doubled up at the low and sold half at break-even. Holding the rest for now.
