The share market edged towards a new five-year closing high this morning despite a profit warning from AMP and a negative morning across Asia.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was 21 points or 0.4% ahead at 5394 and on course to close comfortably above Tuesday's five-year closing high of 5373. Notable gains included energy +1.3%, gold +1.2%, telecoms +0.8%, materials +0.4% and financials +0.6%. The financials sector overcame a 5% plunge in AMP after the financial services company issued a profit downgrade. Read more here.
US futures appeared unimpressed by big after-market moves in Amazon and Microsoft once they reported this morning. Amazon was lately up 8.2% in electronic trade and Microsoft 5.28%. Dow futures were ahead four points or less than 0.1%.
China's Shanghai Composite slipped another 0.11% with traders concerned about signs of fiscal tightening. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.26% and Japan's Nikkei 1.06%.
Crude oil futures rallied 17 cents this morning to US$97.24 a barrel. Spot gold was $2 softer at US$1,344.20 an ounce. The dollar was buying 95.97 US cents.
The market's armchair ride continues. No obvious overhead resistance for some distance, so it's possible we keep gliding higher until the other side of Christmas and the resumption of hostilities in Washington. They say you should always leave something on the table for the next fellow, but I was overly generous with my trades this morning. Nice wins off the lows in LNC and CRZ but took less than half the profits available in both cases. Just a half-bottle of vino collapso tonight, please waiter.
