Thanks Barnsty. Half-time round-up:Shares hovered near four-week...

Thanks Barnsty. Half-time round-up:

Shares hovered near four-week highs this morning as the pick-up in global risk appetite pushed the dollar to a new record.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was ahead 3 points or 0.1% at 4825 as gains in resource stocks, Telstra and health stocks offset falls among the big banks, industrials, energy stocks and small caps.

The dollar was trading near a new post-float record this morning, recently buying US $1.0342.

"It's very much a story of upbeat global sentiment pushing the Aussie dollar higher and it just ground gradually higher throughout the offshore session to a new post-float high," Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Mike Jones told Fairfax.

The morning's domestic economic news painted a mixed picture of the economy, with retail sales up, house prices flat and building approvals unexpectedly plunging. Retail sales had their biggest rise in seven months, increasing by 0.5% last month, up a notch from January's growth rate of 0.4%. National city house prices were unchanged last month but building approvals slumped for a second month, falling 7.4%.

Regional markets were little changed this morning. Japan's Nikkei eased 0.22% and Shanghai was off 0.03%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rallied 0.22%. Dow futures were recently at -2.

Crude oil futures recovered 34 cents this morning at $104.65 a barrel. Spot gold was 30 cents stronger at $1,424.30 an ounce.


Looks like a forgettable day for the XJO, but simply holding recent gains is bullish in itself. After all, the market has bounced more than 6% or 300 points in 10 trading days. Was all about MSB for me this morning. Began buying too early (not unusual) but lowered my average entry enough to turn a profit when the bounce came. Still holding a third in case it cracks $7.