Ahead of the local open SPI futures were 1 point lower at 5,826.
The Australian share market has continued its strong start to the year closing higher on Monday, bolstered by energy and financial sectors. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 10.8 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 5,890.4 at 1630 AEDT on Monday, while the broader All Ordinaries was up 12.3 points, or 0.21 per cent, higher at 5,953.5.
According to Pepperstone head of research Chris Weston, despite pessimistic predictions for the start of 2019 most areas on the ASX continue to perform well partly due to a fear of missing out. “We came into this year sour on global economics, people were concerned about a liquidity drain, and it’s hardly abundant but markets are going up, so something is happening” Mr Pepperstone said. “If it keeps going up then people feel like they have to be involved even if they hate what they are seeing.”
At the close on Monday the consumer discretionary sector was the star performer, with Aristocrat Leisure up 3.18 per cent to $24.31, and Super Retail up 2.83 per cent to $6.90. Flight Centre was also up 2.2 per cent to $45.07 followed by Breville up 1.51 per cent to $10.74.
Oil prices remain firm helped along by a spike in local energy stocks following renewed trade hopes. Santos rose 0.66 per cent to $6.10, while Origin Energy was up 0.56 per cent to $7.24 at the close. Major miners were also in the green with BHP up 0.27 per cent to $33.20 after being accused of underpaying a total of up to $300 million in iron ore royalties to the West Australian government dating back to 2004. Fortescue Metals rose 2.59 per cent to $4.75 while Rio Tinto fell down per 0.17 per cent to $80.51.
Stocks for market darling Afterpay Touch have fallen following record December sales and soaring share prices which rose over 12 per cent on Friday, decreasing 5.28 per cent to $15.25 at Monday’s close.
Morning-Market-Note-Tuesday-22nd-January