A bright morning on Asian markets and bullish US futures helped Australian shares extend yesterday's four-and-a-half-year high.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was 19 points or 0.4% stronger at 5218 and on track for a third straight winning week and a new 58-month closing peak. Among the morning's picks were health +1.4%, industrials +1.1%, property trusts +1.1% and metals & mining +0.8%.
The financials sector dropped 0.5% after ANZ became the first Australian bank in more than a decade to lower its standard mortgage rate by more than the RBA's 25 basis points cut announced on Tuesday. ANZ this morning knocked 27 basis points off its standard variable rate.
US futures rebounded from overnight weakness as Japanese shares surged to a new five-year high. The Nikkei jumped 2.7% as a plunging yen brightened the outlook for exporters. Shanghai rallied 0.31%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.02%. Dow futures were recently up 35 points or more than 0.2%.
Crude oil futures rallied 12 cents this morning to US$96.18 a barrel. Spot gold was $4.10 firmer at US$1,461 an ounce. The dollar was buying $US1.0088.
You can tell the market is picking up from the upsurge in ramps here this morning. Seems like everyone had something to spruik. We'll have to develop and copyright the HC Rampometer (The 'Wow!!!') as an exclusive market indicator, quite possibly contrarian. Bear in mind you're pitching to a pretty well-informed audience here. I'm on track for one of my best weeks of the year, thanks today to some old-fashioned luck. I went too early into PRY, a favourite intraday trader, and kept buying as it fell much further than anticipated. Looked like I was cactus when it went into a trading halt and the words "Trading Update" flashed across the screen. Lo and behold, it was a profit upgrade. Dumb luck. The enthusiasm didn't last long but it was enough for me to get out at a very tidy profit. Also had a win in PIR. Too early to start drinking?
