Thanks Oscar and morning crew. Enjoy your break, Shants....

Thanks Oscar and morning crew. Enjoy your break, Shants.


Half-time round-up:

Energy stocks steered the share market higher as oil neared US$50 a barrel and US stocks rose overnight for the first time in three sessions.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was 19 points or 0.3% ahead at 5472 as the energy sector rallied 1.6%, consumer staples 1.4% and metals & mining 0.6%. The rally was constrained by declines in telecoms -2.2%, gold -0.8% and consumer discretionary -0.2%.

Crude oil peaked at US$49.95 a barrel overnight after US authorities reported national stockpiles declined for a fifth straight week. WTI oil futures eased 26 cents or 0.52% this morning to US$49.58 a barrel.

“The near term path of least resistance remains higher for oil right now," Tyler Richey, co-editor of The 7:00’s Report, told MarketWatch. "A violation of the summer highs in WTI just under $52 a barrel could see the market swiftly make a run at $60 a barrel, where we would expect some consolidation and profit taking.”

Asian markets took their cues from Wall Street. Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.44% and Japan's Nikkei 0.72%. China's Shanghai Composite remained closed for a public holiday. Dow futures were recently weaker by 12 points or 0.07%.

Gold futures were 70 cents or 0.06% firmer at US$1,269.30 an ounce. The dollar was buying 76.11 US cents.


Trading: powder still dry. Had a few in the sights, but... Looked at QUR several times, failed to pull trigger. Sack the sniper.