The Australian sharemarket is gaining for the second straight day with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) up 0.7 pct or 33.5 pts to 4598.7. Almost all sectors are higher however mining stocks are the best improvers at lunch.

The world’s largest miner, BHP Billiton (BHP) is up 1.07 pct or 45 cents to $42.45 while the smaller RIO Tinto (RIO) is 1.6 pct or $1.26 higher to $79.92. Australia’s biggest gold miner, Newcrest Mining (NCM) is up 1.25 pct or 46 cents to $37.33. NCM was first listed in 1987 and has a market capitalisation of $28.5 billion, making it one of the biggest gold producers in the world. The company’s main operations are in Australia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

The 4 big banks are doing well with ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) up 0.84 pct or 18 cents to $21.73, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is 0.88 pct or 44 cents higher to $50.70, Westpac (WBC) is up 0.75 pct or 16 cents to $21.59 and National Australia Bank (NAB) is 0.69 pct or 17 cents higher to $24.81.

Department store owner, Myer (MYR) is making up for yesterday’s pullback and is up 1.45 pct or 4 cents to $2.76 while its competitor, David Jones (DJS) is currently 1.25 pct or 5 cents higher to $4.05.

The defensive healthcare sector is one of the few to be trading lower with ResMed (RMD) one of the worst performers. RMD is down 1.33 pct or 4 cents to $2.97.

Following the end of daylight savings in April this year, major Asian markets will be trading between the hours mentioned below until mid October.

The Hong Kong sharemarket trades in two sessions each day and will now be opening for trade between 11.30am (AEST) and 2pm (AEST) and then between 3.30pm (AEST) and 6pm (AEST) in its second session.

Out of Japan, the first session will be between 10am (AEST) and 12pm (AEST), while the second session is between 1.30pm (AEST) and 4pm (AEST).

The Singapore exchange will be open for trade between 11am (AEST) and 2.30pm (AEST) for the first session and then between 4pm (AEST) and 7pm (AEST) in its second session.

The Asian sharemarkets are mostly stronger, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 up 1.3 pct or 123.07 pts to 9582.73, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is 0.66 pct or 143.69 pts higher to 21994.28, South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.93 pct or 19.12 pts to 2067.29 while China’s Shanghai Composite index fell 0.22 pct or 5.9 pts to 2640.57.

There is no economic data scheduled for release in Australia or in the Asian region today. However, New Zealand released its latest current account (measuring the difference between imported and exported goods and services in addition to income flows). The reading came in better than expected and shares in New Zealand are up 0.3 pct.

The best performing stock at lunch is Mutiny Gold (MYG), which is up 23.71 pct or 2.3 cents to 12 cents. MYG is an Australian gold explorer based in Western Australia. It was first listed in 2006 and has a market capitalisation (the number of shares on issue multiplied by its current share price) of $35.1 million.

So far today, 1.27 billion shares have been traded worth $2.59 billion. 667 shares are up, 335 are lower and 368 are currently unchanged.

The Australian dollar is a little stronger and buys US105.7 cents.