Thanks Oscar and morning crew. Half-time round-up: The ASX is...

Thanks Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

The ASX is within reach of its best rally this year as Asian markets chase Wall Street higher following a well-received speech from US President Trump overnight.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was 60 points or 1% ahead at 5764 and in with a shot to exceed 2017"s best session to date, a 67-point rally on the opening day of the year. Leading the surge were the metals & mining sector +3.5%, materials +3.1%, gold +1.3% and financials +1.1%. Telecoms -1.4% was the only sector to lose ground.

The rally followed a record session on Wall Street as President Trump pledged to cut red tape, reform taxes and boost infrastructure spending. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is due to speak tomorrow night.

“The overwhelming feeling is positive,” Karl Goody, private wealth manager at Shaw and Partners, told Bloomberg. “As long as Yellen keeps the same sort of stance, that’s what investors want at the moment. There’s a huge thirst and ultra-high demand from people with money trying to find a home. This is going to continue.”

China's Shanghai Composite put on 0.2%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.78% and Japan's Nikkei 1.14%. Dow futures were recently up four points or 0.02%.

Crude oil futures dipped nine cents or 0.17% this morning to US$53.74 a barrel. Gold futures declined $3.10 or 0.25% to US$1,246.90 an ounce. The dollar was buying 76.58 US cents.


Time for the ASX to play catch-up. First target 5800, then 6000. We're not into the euphoric stage of this bull market yet, so it likely has further to run. Wait until Uber drivers start giving share tips.... Trading: a lot of the action today was further up the food chain. I generally look for pullbacks, which were few and far. Took PRR on the basis the sp seemed a tad out of kilter with its American equivalent. So far, so ho-hum.