Australian shares edged to a fresh four-month high this morning as a measure of Chinese manufacturing improved for a second month.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was up 8 points or 0.2% at 4678 after earlier touching its highest level since May 5. Gains of more than 1% for resource sectors offset minor losses among the financial sector, property trusts and consumer staples.
A key measure of Chinese economic activity increased modestly this month to a five-month high. The HSBC purchasing managers' index edged up from 51.9 in August to 52.9 this month.
The dollar continued its extraordinary run, nudging 96.85 US cents this morning before easing to trade recently at 96.75 cents.
New-house sales declined for a fourth month in August, according to data released this morning by the Housing Industry Association. August sales were 2.6% lower than July and 20.5% lower than the same time last year.
Asian markets rallied after a sixth straight improvement in Japanese business confidence. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.63% in morning trade, Shanghai 0.55% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 1.17%. Dow futures were recently up 10 points or 0.1% at 10,798.
Crude oil futures rebounded 19 cents this morning to $76.42 a barrel. The spot gold price was $1 lower at $1,308.30 an ounce.
There obviously wasn't enough in the Chinese PMI number to move our market either way. That completes a frustrating morning here, with nearly all the shares I tracked reversing just before my entry level. Just one trade so far - a small bounce in AVO for half a day's wage. Won't look so bad if I take the rest of the day off...
