The share market reached the halfway mark within sight of its highest close in five and a half years after Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens downplayed the prospects of rate rises any time soon.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was trading 15 points or 0.3% higher at 5461 and on track to better Wednesday's 2014 closing high of 5446. I.T. topped the rising sectors, up 2.7%, followed by energy +1.1%, industrials +0.9% and health +0.8%.
RBA Governor Stevens used an appearance before the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics to reiterate his belief that the dollar remains too high and that interest rates will remain where they are for some time. Read more here.
"A sense of stability should be of some help for businesses and households as they form their plans," he said. "Our view remains that the outlook for inflation, while a little higher than before, is still consistent with the medium-term target."
Asian markets advanced. China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.41%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.2% and Japan's Nikkei 0.76%. Emini Dow futures were recently up 18 points or 0.1%.
Crude oil futures fell 24 cents this morning to US$101.74 a barrel. Spot gold retreated $1.30 to US$1,349.60 an ounce. The dollar was buying 90.89 US cents.
Good to see the market grinding through the overhead technical resistance. The odds now appear to favour a burst higher next week - assuming Wall Street keeps its rose-tinted spectacles on. I had one of the easier mornings this week, with two straight-forward bounce scalps closed in RHT and CZD. ASB and HIL also set up well and should have been steered to the boundary.
