Just shy of all-time highs!

There was no US lead for us to follow today with US markets closed for their 4^th of July holiday, and as a result the local market opened little changed. Buyers soon took over and the index tracked higher throughout the afternoon. Financials were the main contributor to the rally as the banks recovered from the rate announcement earlier in the week. Miners were soft with Chinese iron ore trading lower throughout the day and currently off 6.81%, following China Mills urging an investigation into the recent strong rally, with the main loser of the sector being Fortescue Metals (FMG) – down 4.35% to $8.80.

There was very little news to keep investors interested, and given the light volumes during school holidays and Friday in general, once the market picked a direction there was little resistance to the momentum. As a result, the ASX 200 is now only 100 points away from the all-time high at 6851. That is just 1.48% higher.

Overall today, the ASX 200 closed up 33 points or 0.5% at 6751. Dow Futures are trading up +26 points or 0.10%.

ASX 200 Chart

ASX 200 Chart

CATCHING OUR EYE:

Sectors this week: incredibly, all sectors finished in the black this week.

Stocks this week: Speedcast was the biggest loser on soft guidance, Eclipx was the winner with news of divesting underperforming assets.

Broker Moves;

· Coca-Cola Amatil Downgraded to Sell at Goldman; PT A$8.50

· Service Stream Rated New Hold at Baillieu Ltd; PT A$2.95

· Speedcast Ratings Cut to B1 by Moody’s; Outlook Negative

· Whitehaven Downgraded to Sell at Goldman; PT A$3.20

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