Asian markets advanced this morning amid reports of progress at European debt talks while a technical glitch halted Australian share trade minutes into the session.
Equity trading remained suspended at lunchtime as the ASX explored a technical problem. No timeline was given for a resumption of trade.
A message on the ASX website said: "The equity market has been halted due to a technical issue with the ASX Trade system this morning. ASX is currently investigating and will seek to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Further updates will be provided as information becomes available. "
Asian markets and US futures rallied amid reports that bondholders have agreed to accept a 50% haircut on Greek bonds (source: Fairfax) Japan's Nikkei advanced 0.4%, Shanghai 0.35% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.82%. Dow futures were recently up 46 points or 0.4%.
"The situation in Europe is still very fluid and we still have to see exactly what is decided," Diane Lin, fund manager with Pengana Capital told Bloomberg. "At this stage, different information and stories are coming off of different sources. Until that's decided, we can't really know what will happen."
The Australian dollar recovered yesterday's losses as risk appetite was boosted by reports of progress in European debt talks. The dollar was recently buying US$1.0448, up more than half a cent.
Crude oil futures rallied 69 cents this morning to US$91.55 a barrel. Spot gold was $2.30 stronger at US$1,723.80 an ounce.
At least Asian markets are moving in the right direction. We'd all be sweating bullets if Asia had fallen off a cliff. If correct, that Fairfax report that there's a deal pending over Greece's debt would seem to be the third plank safely in place in the plan to contain Europe's debt problem. In other words, the stage appears to be set for a solid rally on world markets. But we may have to wait until tomorrow to trade it. The last time there was a technical glitch like this on the ASX, we hung around all day and then the market failed to open at all. The waiting goes on.
