Australian shares edged higher this morning as economists tipped a likely pause in the recent run of interest rate rises.
At 1 pm the ASX 200 was 15 points or 0.3% higher at 4799 as gains in cyclical sectors outweighed modest losses in defensive shares. The rises were spearheaded by IT +1.2%, industrials +0.5%, financials +0.5% and mining +0.4%. Utilities and consumer stocks were among a handful of sectors trading lower.
Economists expect interest rates to stand still next month after the release of the minutes from the RBA's last board meeting this morning. ICAP senior economist Adam Carr told Fairfax the recent fall in home lending would encourage the central bank to hold rates steady.
"I certainly don't think there's any indication in these minutes that they'll move in April," Mr Carr said. "Given the sharp drop in home lending I almost certainly think they won't move in April... The RBA can sit back for a month to see what's going on."
Asian markets edged higher. Japan's Nikkei was 0.2% higher, Shanghai +0.2% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0.3%. Dow futures were at +7.
The spot gold price rallied another $2.60 this morning to $1,109.50 an ounce. Crude oil futures continued to retreat, falling another 15 cents this morning to $79.71 a barrel.
Good to see a hint of volatility creeping back into the market this week. I've made more in the last day and a half than all of last week. Horses for courses. Good bounce trading this morning in TEN, WTF, AWE and KTE. Also holding RFE from 73.
