At lunch on Thursday the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has continued its solid run and is up over 0.3% to 5,854.8 points thanks to gains in the financial and energy sectors.
Here's what has been happening on the ASX 200 so far today:
Bank shares push higher again.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) shares are all up around 0.5% at lunch on Thursday. A couple of strong results from U.S. banks overnight may have boosted investor sentiment.
Miners are mixed.
The South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) share price is 2.5% higher following the release of a strong quarterly update from the diversified miner. Elsewhere, the Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price is up over 4% following the release of its update. Lithium miner Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE) also released its quarterly update this morning, but that hasn't gone down as well. A drop in lithium prices has led to its shares edging lower. The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price is flat.
Corporate Travel Management shares push higher.
The Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) share price is up 3% at lunch. Today's gain appears to be in response to a broker note out of UBS this morning. According to the note, the broker has upgraded its shares to a buy rating with a $31.20 price target following a sharp share price decline over the last few months.
Best and worst performers.
The best performer on the ASX 200 at lunch is the Whitehaven Coal share price with its 4% gain. Not far behind is the Alumina Limited (ASX: AWC) share price which is 3.5% higher. The catalyst for this is likely to be South32 reporting solid increases in alumina prices in its first half update. Going the other way is the Western Areas Ltd (ASX: WSA) share price which has fallen almost 3.5%. Concerns over nickel prices appear to be behind the selling.
