The share market has rallied for the first time in six sessions as US futures improved and most Asian markets crept higher.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was seven points or 0.1% stronger at 4967 as gains in the big banks and select defensive sectors offset falls among the miners, consumer staples and property trusts.
There were emerging signs of stability in Japan, following a 10%+ plunge in share values in three days. The Nikkei was lately up 0.66% and trading in a much tighter range than has been seen in recent sessions. Shanghai slipped less than 0.1%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.12%. Emini Dow futures were recently up 27 points or 0.2% following yesterday's Memorial Day market holiday.
"Markets are now seeking levels to stabilise, but players are likely to wait for cues from US markets when they resume trade after Monday's holiday," the director of foreign exchange at Credit Agricole in Japan told Reuters.
Crude oil futures inched up six cents this morning to US$93.71 a barrel. Spot gold was $3.20 softer at US$1,390.10 an ounce. The dollar was buying 96.24 US cents.
Thanks again to all the posters who chimed in this morning on CAB. The NSW news outlets were slow to pick up on the Victorian news and I was too narrow with my Googling. The share price is trending in the right direction but I could have traded it a lot better. Also took GBG at 10.5c for what looked like an easy half-pip, but exits seems to be getting harder since the exchanges began to multiply. Amazing how long you can sit at the front of the sell queue these days and not get hit. CommSec Iress no longer seems to flag all cross-trades, which makes it doubly frustrating - at least you knew what was going on when they were all marked. Anyone else notice a difference over the last few months or is it trading platform-specific?
