The share market marched to a seven-week high this morning as Japanese investors shrugged off last night's earthquake and the Australian dollar hovered near US $1.05.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was ahead 25 points or 0.5% at 4933 and on track for its strongest close since mid-February. Health and energy stocks led the sector gains, with all sectors except telecoms and consumer discretionary trading ahead.
The gains came as Japan's Nikkei share index overcame initial losses following last night's 7.1 magnitude aftershock. The Nikkei advanced 0.91% in morning trade, which helped Dow futures recover to +17. Shanghai rallied 0.19% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.45%.
The dollar was sitting just under US $1.05 after hitting a new post-float high of US $1.0508 overnight. The Aussie was recently trading at US $1.048.
In company news, the ASX and the Singapore Exchange have scrapped merger plans after Treasurer Wayne Swan rejected the proposed deal on the grounds that it was not in the national interest.
Oil continued its overnight bull run, rising another 61 cents this morning to $110.88 a barrel. Spot gold was $4.60 stronger at $1.464.60 an ounce.
Good to see Asian markets move beyond the latest trouble in Japan. Very early days, obvious, but US futures are starting to look more encouraging for tonight. A bullish morning here, with the XJO doing well and the All Ords (XAO) even better - it's on track for a 2011 closing high at present. I was too bearish following that overnight lead and didn't find much this morning. Caught the post-placement low in ASL and scalped LCY on pullback.
