daytrades nov 22 afternoon

Thanks Tweets. Half-time round-up:

Australian stocks rallied this morning, boosted by a rescue package for Ireland and rising U.S. futures.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was ahead 29 points or 0.6% at 4659, with all sectors advancing except gold and consumer staples. Fronting sector gains were property trusts +1.5%, health +1.4% and telecoms +1.1%.

Australia's second-largest ever float, QR National, debuted this morning at a modest premium to the launch price. QRN was recently trading at $2.60, up from the issue price of $2.55 a share.

Market sentiment was boosted by confirmation that Ireland will seek assistance from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. The news ended a stand-off that had unsettled world markets and contributed to last week's volatility.

"Markets don't like uncertainty and I think you are just seeing a little bit more clarity in how ailing economies like Ireland continue to be managed within the EU," Shaw Stockbroking senior dealer Jamie Spiteri told Fairfax. "There's improved sentiment here in the belief that agreement regarding Ireland and the EU may just create a level of stability across Europe this evening."

U.S. futures turned higher this morning. Dow futures were recently 57 points or 0.5% stronger.

Asian markets were mixed. Japan's Nikkei was ahead for a fourth day, up 0.9%, Shanghai was up 0.1% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.45%.

Crude oil futures rebounded this morning, rising 52 cents or 0.6% to $82.50 a barrel. The spot gold price was $6.60 stronger at $1,360.70 an ounce. The dollar was buying 99.36 U.S. cents.


Nice start to the week after two weeks of pullback. Be interesting to see if US traders go on with it tonight or use the opening bounce as a chance to dump ahead of the holidays - should tell us a lot about current sentiment. I'd been watching for a breakout in VIL for weeks and managed to get in and out for a few points before the trading halt - hope it's good news for long-suffering holders. Other than that I've been skimming points off the beaten-up end of the market - WEC, WPG, BDG and LOM - this morning.