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

Thanks Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

Energy shares pushed the ASX higher for the first time this week following crude oil's best session in seven months.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was nine points or 0.2% stronger at 5335 but negative for the week after the 'Trump rally' ran out of steam this week. A mixed morning saw declines in consumer discretionary stocks -1.1%, metals & mining -1.1% and health -1% countered by rallies in gold +3.4%, energy +2.7% and utilities +1.4%.

The energy sector benefitted from a 5.8% surge in US crude overnight on speculation that OPEC may secure a deal to curb output. WTI futures eased 22 cents or 0.48% this morning to US$45.59 a barrel.

“There are some talks coming from OPEC that members are trying at least to heal the diplomatic divide among individual members,” Peter Lee, oil analyst at BMI Research in the US told MarketWatch. “This is what traders will be looking at—any small sign coming from [OPEC] will be reflected in the price.”

A broadly positive morning in Asia saw Hong Kong's Hang Seng rise 0.58% and Japan's Nikkei 0.93%. China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.04% in early trade.  Dow futures were recently ahead by 11 points or 0.06%.

Gold futures were firmer by $8 or 0.65% at US$1,232.50 an ounce. The dollar was buying 75.57 US cents.


Not a convincing bounce. Scarcely surprising considering the overnight tumble in iron ore - more important to us than oil. The Trump rally looks pretty much done and the market seems to anticipate a deeper retrace before any further gains. Trading: slipped out of SRO from last week and got a wage from the tentative bounce in ACX.