The Australian dollar is higher after disappointing American data put downward pressure on the greenback.
This morning the local unit was trading at 92.54 US cents, up from 92.22 cents on Monday.
The US dollar is trading lower after weaker-than-expected figures showed existing home sales dropped by 1.2 per cent in June.
The downward pressure on the US dollar pushed the local currency higher overnight.
US stocks were flat this morning after a series of mediocre earnings reports limited buying enthusiasm.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a 1.81 (0.01 per cent) gain at 15,545.55.
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The broad-based S&P 500 rose 3.44 (0.20 per cent) to 1,695.53.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 12.77 (0.36 per cent) at 3,600.39, regaining a bit of ground it lost after Friday’s sell-off in tech shares.
Investors were unimpressed by the most recent batch of earnings reports on Monday.
The group included Dow member McDonald’s, which became the latest giant equity to disappoint after last week’s unimpressive results from Coca-Cola, Google and Microsoft.
“The results have been a little bit of a problem for the market,” said Mace Blicksilver, director of Marblehead Asset Management.
“The market needs fresh news to go higher and lately all the big earnings news has been kind of negative.”
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McDonald’s fell 2.7 per cent after profits lagged expectations by two cents at $US1.38 per share.
Toy company Hasbro rose 3.3 per cent after announcing a plan to expand its merchandising relationship for Disney’s entertainment properties Marvel and Star Wars. Disney shares dropped 1.2 per cent.
At 29 US cents per share, Hasbro earnings lagged expectations by five cents.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond held steady at 2.49 per cent, the same level as late Friday, while the 30-year slipped to 3.56 per cent from 3.57 per cent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
Back in Australia, and a rise in the gold price has delivered resources stocks a boost and helped to lift the local sharemarket.
CommSec market analyst Steven Daghlian said the market had now started nine of the past 11 trading session higher.
He said mining stocks were leading the way thanks to gains in commodity prices.
“The mining sector is the focus today, and it has been for the last couple of weeks,” he said.
Gold miner Newcrest was one of the best performers with its shares up 62 cents, or 5.19 per cent, at $12.57.
“The gold price was up about $US42 overnight, the best daily improvement of 2013, so keep your eye on the gold miners today,” Mr Daghlian said.
Among the larger miners, BHP Billiton shares were up 14 cents at $34.26, although Rio Tinto was down 23 cents at $56.32.
The big four banks were higher, with Commonwealth Bank up 14 cents to $72.02, ANZ gaining 14 cents to $29.05, National Australia Bank 14 cents higher at $30.55 and Westpac lifting 11 cents to $29.51.
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