Australian shares inched higher this morning for the first session in five.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was up 6 points or 0.15% at 4651. Modest gains for cyclical sectors such as finance and mining outweighed losses in traditional defensive sectors such as health and consumer stocks as institutional traders rotated into riskier assets in an early sign that a bounce may be imminent.
"The market is looking a bit oversold in the short term," EL&C Baillieu Stockbroking director Richard Morrow told Fairfax.
Japan's Nikkei rallied 1.4% in morning trade after falling nearly 6% in the last four sessions. Shanghai was up 0.13% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.85%. Dow futures recently rose to a bullish +31 as excerpts from this afternoon's State of the Union address soothed investor fears.
Elsewhere, the federal government this morning released plans to bolster the corporate watchdog, ASIC. Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law Minister Chris Bowen revealed changes aimed at strengthening ASIC's investigative powers and raising penalties for offences.
"These changes will ensure that ASIC is properly equipped to investigate and prosecute serious corporate misconduct which has the potential to cause significant harm to the economy and investors," Mr Bowen said.
Crude oil futures were recently 4 cents higher at $73.74 a barrel. The spot gold price fell $3.20 this morning to $1,083.70 an ounce.
A lacklustre morning here after a manic few days. Small revenge trade in MML for yesterday's loss. Out of TEN from yesterday for brokerage.
