Australian shares are on track to finished the month with modest gains after rising for a second day as the threat of western intervention in Syria receded.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was trading 22 points or 0.45% ahead at 5115 and heading for a monthly advance of around 60 points. The rally was spearheaded by the gold sector, up 1.7%, followed by utilities +1.2%, telecoms +0.9% and the Small Ords +0.9%. Property trusts -0.5% and IT -0.1% were the only sectors to lose ground.
The energy sector crept up 0.3% despite another downleg in the price of oil after the British parliament voted against action against the Syrian government. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery fell another 70 cents this morning to US$107.47 a barrel. Spot gold climbed 60 cents to US$1,408.20 an ounce.
"The fact that an attack on Syria is less likely is obviously a positive thing as far as sentiment goes," the director of sales trading at Kim Eng Securities in Hong Kong told Bloomberg. "But we've also seen an impact on oil prices and gold. That's part of the choppiness."
Asian markets were mixed after Japanese economic data this morning showed inflation and industrial production on the rise and unemployment in decline. Shanghai inched up 0.04%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.21% and Japan's Nikkei lost 0.66%. Dow futures were recently up 13 points or 0.1%.
The dollar was buying 89.4 US cents.
A positive morning, but not over-flowing with opportunity. Well done to anyone who's made a decent quid today. We've been spoiled lately. Might just be my on-going battle with Man Flu (the most dramatic and self-pitying of flu strains), but I couldn't find a new trade this morning. Fortunately PBT came good from yesterday to soothe my conscience.
