MIDDAY REPORT
(12pm AEDT)

The Australian sharemarket is gaining for the sixth time in seven sessions, with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) up 0.6 pct or 27.4 pts to 4293.8. Today's improvement can be partly attributed to the impressive gains out of European markets overnight, thanks to progress being made on a viable debt solution.

The major banks are mostly weaker with the exception of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) which is currently up 0.59 pct or 26 cents to $47.72. ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) is down 0.57 pct or 12 cents to $20.96, National Australia Bank (NAB) is off 0.5 pct or 12 cents to $24.08 and Westpac (WBC) is 0.32 pct or 7 cents lower to $21.52.

The mining sector is leading the market higher at lunch, with both BHP Billiton (BHP) and RIO Tinto (RIO) amongst the best improvers. RIO is up 2.61 pct or $1.77 to $69.23 while the larger BHP is 1.2 pct higher.

The Australian competition regulator, the ACCC has indicated its intention to approve the proposed alliance between Virgin Australia (VBA) and Singapore Airlines. VBA shares are up 1.59 pct or 0.5 cent to 32 cents.

Qantas (QAN) has once again apologised to its customer for the expected strike action taking place. QAN has estimated that close to 7,000 passengers could be affected today. QAN shares are currently up 0.16 pct or 0.25 cent to $1.55.

There were twice as many jobs created in September than expected, with 20,400 positions added and the unemployment rate easing from 5.3 pct to 5.2 pct. This is welcome news following the worse than forecast result in August when the unemployment rate rose from 5.1 pct to 5.3 pct.

China will release its latest trade balance report for last month today. The market is expecting a surplus (exports greater than imports) of around US$17.1 billion for the month. Back in August, exports rose by a better than expected 24.5 pct Year on Year (YOY), with increased demand from developed economies such as the U.S helping the reading. YOY basically means the result from August this year compared to August last year.

There have been concerns expressed by some regarding China's potential slowdown. It is important to remember that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last month said it expects China to grow by 9.5 pct this year and 9 pct next year. India is expected to expand by a further 8 pct this calendar year. The IMF is one of the most reputable global forecasters.

Following the start of daylight savings at the start of October, major Asian markets will be trading between the hours mentioned below until April next year (note that over the next month, some of the times might slightly off due to several countries in the region changing their clocks at differing periods).

The Hong Kong sharemarket trades in two sessions each day and will now open for trade between 1pm (AEDT) and 3.30pm (AEDT) while the second session is between 5.30pm (AEDT) and 7pm (AEDT).

Out of Japan, the first session will be between 11am (AEDT) and 1pm (AEDT) while the second session is between 2.30pm (AEDT) and 5pm (AEDT).

The Singapore exchange will be open for trade between 12pm (AEDT) and 3.30pm (AEDT) for the first session and then between 5pm (AEDT) and 8pm (AEDT) for the second.

Asian markets are higher at lunch, with Japan's Nikkei 225 index up 1.01 pct or 88.32 pts to 8827.22, while South Korea's KOSPI index is 1.27 pct or 23 pts higher to 1832.5.

So far in trade at lunch, 721 million shares have been traded worth $1.95 billion. 508 shares are up, 246 are lower and 326 are currently unchanged.

The Australian dollar (AUD) has shot through parity against the U.S dollar overnight and currently buys US101.9 cents.

The AUD is the world's fifth most traded currency behind the U.S dollar, the Euro, Japanese Yen and British Pound. The AUD accounts for around 7 pct of all foreign exchange trades.