Good afternoon,

Across Asia, regional markets are all pushing higher in afternoon trade after Intel reported a stronger-than-expected Q2 result and Singapore upgraded its 2010 economic growth forecast. Japan's Nikkei 225 is the best performer, up 2.6% while the Kospi, Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite are all higher between 1% and 1.5%.

In Australia, the ASX 200 is currently 1.5% firmer at 4445.5 having earlier touched an intra-day high of 4455. After the strong performance in the US overnight we are seeing broad based gains across our market with the heavyweight materials, financials, energy and industrial sectors all convincingly higher as a solid start to the US earnings season has buoyed investor sentiment.

We've seen a very good start to the earnings season. It's forcing a lot of bearish analysts to review their positions and cover back where appropriate, hence the rally we saw in Intel after hours. It's not just headline figures that are impressive, but outlook statements are upping guidance, which is very encouraging.

A tell tale sign for us confirming a change in sentiment was the market's non-reaction to Moody's two-notch downgrade of Portugal's credit rating. Only week ago, this would have precipitated a massive sell off. The fact that the market was able to take this in its stride perhaps suggests that the worst of the European sovereign debt crisis is behind us. It looks like the glass is half full again.

Looking ahead, tonight's result from JPMorgan will be crucial as many analysts have seen the financial space as a potential area of weakness, concerned about how new financial regulations might impact forward earnings and outlooks.

Provided by IG Markets