Australian stocks inched higher this morning but struggled to hold early gains for a second consecutive session.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was up 12 points or 0.29% at 4448 after hitting an early intraday high of 4467. There were mixed signals from the market, with defensive sectors generally negative - consumer staples off 0.6%, telecoms down 0.9% and utilities at -0.1% - but health stocks rallied 2.2% and there were solid gains for cyclicals such as financials +0.5% and miners +0.5%.
In local economic news, the number of job advertisements rose for the first time since April 2008. Job ads increased 4.1% last month, according to the ANZ Bank's monthly survey.
Asian markets were stronger. Japan advanced 1.02%, Hong Kong 1.32% and Shanghai 1.34%. US markets are closed tonight. The spot gold price eased a few dollars to $992.10 this morning. Crude oil futures overcame some early weakness to progress to $68.11.
It was slower going this morning than I expected. Scalped a few points off BBI and have been easing out of MFI. Saved the morning by buying GXY on breakout. Every other buy order went unfilled.
Potential overnight holds: Slim pickings today but perhaps REY, THX or GXY on breakout.
