daytrade diaries ... january 8 part 2

Rises in financial stocks have helped propel the Australian market to a 15-month high at noon.

All Ordinaries index had risen 17 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 4,948 points.

A key industry survey shows construction activity remained flat throughout Australia last month, with a fall in demand for apartment building and engineering construction restricting growth.

The Performance of Construction Index for the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) and Housing Industry Association rose 1.7 points to 49.3 in December.

Analyst said "The last time we were at these levels was 15 months ago, in late September 2008, which goes to show you how much of a bounce we have had. We are seeing every single sector up, except for materials, and in materials it is the gold stocks doing the most damage there. It has been a day when we have seen the market re-take the past two sessions of losses, which follows a modest lead from Wall Street,"

Reports are circling again that Macquarie Group (MQG) is one of three bidders for the Royal Bank of Scotland holding in RBS Sempra Commodities. According to the Australian RBS has reportedly received bids of close to US$4 billion for its stake in the joint venture with natural gas company Sempra Energy. Macquarie Group along with Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan are the three bidders for the asset which RBS has been ordered to sell by the European Union as a condition of accepting billions of dollars in aid from the government. Macquarie Group shares gained 0.78 per cent to $48.87.

Majority of sectors are in the black at midday however the sector with the biggest gain is the Consumer Staples index up 110 points at 7,820.

The only sector in the red at midday is the Materials index, down 27 to 13,161.

Gold is trading at US$1,126.50 an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 91.76 US cents.

EDM: Q at .013
SHE: Q at .089

http://www.marketwatch.com/
http://www.thebull.com.au/
http://www.news.com.au/business/