Local shares edged higher for a second day, boosted by positive earnings, rising building approvals and a healthy trade surplus.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was ahead 16 points or 0.35% at 4813 as strength in the big miners and banks offset weak gold stocks, oilers and utilities.
A busy morning for domestic news included earnings from News Corp and Tabcorp, building approvals and the trade balance. Shares in News Corp were recently up nearly 3% after its Q2 earnings exceeded market expectations. Tabcorp shares also rallied 3%.
Building approvals jumped in December, thanks to a 21.3% spike in apartment and townhouse approvals. House approvals were flat. The 8.7% overall rise was the biggest monthly gain since March.
The trade surplus tightened in December but less than economists expected. The seasonally-adjusted surplus of came in at $1.98 billion, down from $2.078 billion in November but ahead of expectations of a surplus of $1.6 billion.
"This data shows the economy is doing well, it's very much in line with the Reserve Bank of Australia's view that the economy is doing well," Nomura Australia chief economist Stephen Roberts told Fairfax. "It's part of what the Reserve Bank of Australia referred to as reading through natural disasters."
Japan's Nikkei eased 0.1% this morning. Chinese markets were closed for Lunar New Year holidays. Dow futures were recently at +6 [Bloomberg - 20 minute delay].
Crude oil futures rallied 25 cents this morning to $91.25 a barrel. Spot gold eased $2.80 to $1,334.80 an ounce. The dollar was buying US $1.0118.
Glad I made money until yesterday because I couldn't get on a damn trade this morning. The ball just wasn't coming on to the bat. Kept waiting for that extra half cent of additional comfort zone before pulling the trigger. Cases in question: RAD, KDR, MTS. After four weeks of plenty to launch 2011, this week has been a slog.
