Thanks Oscar and morning crew. Half-time round-up: Australian...

Thanks Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

Australian shares powered towards a seventh straight advance and an 11-month high as upbeat Chinese economic data overshadowed a fall in crude oil and a terrorist atrocity in France.  

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was 36 points or 0.7% higher at 5448, a level last seen in mid-August last year. The financial sector led the rally, improving 1.4%, ahead of industrials +0.9%, energy +0.8% and consumer discretionary +0.7%.

The index extended gains after mid-morning data showed the Chinese economy grew 6.7% last quarter, better than the 6.6% rate expected by economists. Industrial production picked up and retail sales and lending were better than expected.

"China hasn’t collapsed," Bill Adams, senior international economist at PNC Financial Services Group in the US, told Bloomberg. "While its economy continues to face daunting challenges in the transition away from export- and investment-led growth, the doomsday predictions for the Chinese economy look like stopped clocks."

Asian markets shrugged off a downswing in crude and news that more than 70 people had been killed when a truck was driven into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was lately up 0.64%, Japan's Nikkei 1.16% and China's Shanghai Composite 0.1%. Dow futures were recently up 16 points or 0.09%.

Crude oil futures were off more than 1% this morning before paring their fall to 30 cents or 0.66% at US$45.38 a barrel. Gold futures were $3.60 or 0.27% weaker at US$1,328.60 an ounce. The dollar was buying 76.44 US cents.


Stunning to see stock markets around the world doing so well against such a bleak geopolitical background. Fresh atrocity in France, racial tensions in the US, Trump for President, Boris Johnson heading the UK's diplomatic efforts, the EU under pressure, Chinese expansionism on the rise. I should stop reading newspapers. Trading: been scraping barrels in BSE and PEH. Not yet clear if worth it.