Thanks Endless. The thread needs a headmaster to swing the birch now and then - good work. Thanks also Cgull for lightening the mood. If Endless is the headmaster, you're the thread's Shakespearean Fool (and readers familiar with Shakespeare will know the Fool is often the smartest character in the play).
Half-time round-up:
Shares extended yesterday's 20-month high as soft inflation figures helped offset weakness in key Asian markets.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was ahead by 11 points or 0.3% at 4790 with gains in the likes of metals & mining +0.7%, financials +0.3% and gold +1.3% cancelling declines in industrials -0.8%, health -0.4% and utilities -0.2%. BHP rallied 1.1% after reporting half-year production results.
The odds on further rate cuts this year increased after inflation figures for the last quarter of 2012 came in below the Reserve Bank's targets. The Consumer Price Index rose just 0.2% last quarter for an annual inflation reading of 2.2%.
"These numbers are coming a bit below the RBA's own forecasts, so inflation is possibly surprising them slightly to the downside," Su-Lin Ong of RBC Capital Markets told Fairfax. "It increases the risk of a rate cut, because inflation is coming in lower than what the RBA had forecast and because it is in the bottom half of the target range and very well-behaved ... But this will increase speculation of a move from them sooner rather than later, given what's been fairly disappointing activity data domestically."
Most Asian markets hit reverse amid disappointment that the Bank of Japan's asset buying program doesn't commence until the start of next year. Shanghai dropped 0.14%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 0.15% and Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.84%. Dow futures were recently up four points or less than 0.1% after Google rallied in after-market trade this morning following strong gains in fourth-quarter sales.
Crude oil futures were unchanged this morning at US$96.15 a barrel. Spot gold was $2.50 stronger at US$1,693.20 an ounce. The dollar was buying $US1.0543.
Not a lot of action in the specs this morning, so I resorted to buying retraces in the mid-caps. Added AMC and SWM so far. Also watching the likes of IPL, IVC, TSE and BLY. BPT coming good from Monday.
