Shares traded higher again today as the market followed overseas leads to edge higher and keep the summer share market rally rolling on. So far in 2017 the market is up 2% with expectations that this rally may have room to run up to the 6,000 point mark with key U.S. and Australian earnings seasons just around the corner.
Here's a quick recap:
- S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) up 0.2% to 5,771 points
- ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) up 0.2% to 5,824 points
- AUD/USD up .2% to U.S. 73.4 cents
- Iron Ore up 2% to US$80.20 a tonne, according to the Metal Bulletin
- Gold up 1% at US$1,188 an ounce
- Brent oil up 1% at US$56.31 a barrel
Once again it was the materials sector doing much of the heavy lifting for the S&P/ASX 200 with BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP), Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) and South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) all finishing in positive territory. Copper prices were especially strong overnight and with its price often seen as a proxy for global growth and inflationary pressures this could suggest more share market gains ahead as technical and moving average indicators turn bullish on the ASX.
Elsewhere, the baby formula sector was back in the headlines today after Bellamy's Australia Ltd (ASX: BAL) revealed another large profit downgrade and dumped its CEO as a result of the problems the company owned up to today. While Bellamy's shares fell around 20% its baby formula selling rival a2 Milk Company Australia Ltd (ASX: A2M) gained 9% as investors cheered the fact that the worst of the Bellamy's news may now be out.
