MARKETS

By Jonathan BarrattWe continue to be bearish oil in 2014, however we are fully aware the market takes time to find its terminal point given a particular set of ideas.

As expected, the status quo was maintained on US monetary policy.

In US economic news, consumer prices rose by 0.2pct in September with the core rate up 0.1pct, below forecasts for a 0.2pct gain. The ADP employment index shows that 130,000 private sector jobs were created in October, below forecasts of a 150,000 gain.

By Greg PeelThe Dow fell 61 points or 0.4% while the S&P lost 0.5% to 1763 and the Nasdaq dropped 0.2%.

Despite giving back some of the more significant gains recorded at midday, the Australian market still managed to rise for the fourth time in five trading sessions and for the 10th time in 12. Chinese economic data out over the past few weeks has been largely promising while the political situation in the US is in better shape for now.

After a 0.5 per cent fall yesterday, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is now up by 21pt or 0.4 per cent. Local stocks have only fallen on two occasions over the past 12 trading sessions; rising by 4.5 per cent since mid-October.

By Peter Switzer, Switzer Super ReportLast week, Investor Mutual's Anton Tagliaferro was quoted saying he was expecting a correction, which, given our 25% plus rise since November 2012 on the stock market, does not look outlandish.

In US economic news, retail sales fell 0.1pct in September, but excluding autos, sales rose 0.4pct, in line with forecasts. Producer prices fell by 0.1pct in September, but excluding food and energy, prices rose 0.1pct, in line with forecasts. Consumer confidence fell from 80.2 to 71.2 in October. And the Case Shiller home price index rose 0.9pct in August to stand 12.8pct higher than a year ago.

Sellers continued to hold sway over the 2nd half of Tuesday's session. The weakness seen in the morning refocussed on the bank stocks which were outperforming in a falling market in early trade.

On the heels of a strong start to the week sellers got some modest traction at the outset of trade on Tuesday. One of the factors helping sellers was the weakness in US futures the start of the Asian session after the Apple result, post the close of Wall St.

The ASX is now up 5.81% in the last 14 days and October looks like it will be the third best month of the year, and well ahead of the average monthly rise in 2013 of 1.3%.

In US economic news, industrial production rose by 0.6pct in September, above expectations for a gain of 0.4pct. But the pending home index fell by 5.6pct to 101.6, weaker than the 0.1pct expected gain.

By Greg PeelA month ago there appeared to be some building interest from buyers in the short-term uranium market, and sellers were thus encouraged to hang back rather than let product go at low prices.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 1 point while the S&P gained two points to 1762 and the Nasdaq lost one point.

By Greg PeelProperty has become the investment buzzword for 2013. Stock markets continue to rally on central bank stimulus yet the bulk of investors remain on the sidelines, still fearful of the volatility that has been a feature since the GFC.

Local participants showed few signs of doubt on Monday ahead of a busy week for market moving events. The ASX 200 has risen more than 4% this month, notwithstanding that result buyers continued to keep the upper hand over most on the session.

The gains are continuing, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up by 60pts or 1.1 per cent at lunch. With nine of the past ten sessions being up days, this makes it the second best winning streak for local shares of 2013. The gains are partly being fuelled by greater political certainty in the US (for now), Chinese manufacturing figures out last week and a better finish to the week for US equities on Friday.

Areva, the French nuclear energy giant, inked an agreement with Mon-Atom, a state-owned company in Mongolia, to develop to uranium mines in the Gobi desert.

As we head into the last four trading days of October there are a few statistics that are starting to make me see a crest at the top of the hill for the ASX.

Over 40 major donor organisations, including government and private agencies, received "Poor" or "Very Poor" scores in the latest Aid Transparency Index (ATI), bringing into question how and where foreign aid money is being spent, contrary to prior pledges towards more openness.

In US economic news, orders for durable goods (goods with a life more than three years) rose by 3.7pct in September, ahead of expectations. But non-defence goods excluding planes fell by 1.1pct. Consumer sentiment fell from 77.5 to a 10-month low of 73.2 in October, below expectations for a result near 75.0. And wholesale inventories rose by 0.5pct in September with sales up 0.6pct - both above expectations.

By Ashley JessenASX Top Gainers & Losers plus Market Snapshot - 28 October 2013Strong leads across US and European markets provided the necessary inspiration for our local market to close at their highest level since June 2008 with several of our banks closing at all time record highs and match that...

- Wesfarmers sales growth reasonable on a net basis- Yield is attractive- Coles appears to be slowing- Analysts question a high PEBy Greg PeelWesfarmers ((WES)) reported its quarterly retail and coal sales last week and the story was mixed.

The weekly uptrend has ended and a new downtrend has started with a close below 5424.The market is at the upper end of the short term range and the RSI is at elevated levels.

Local stocks went against the regional trend today which saw most of the leading indices lose ground. The improvement on Friday has meant that over the last 5 days the index has gained about 1.2%.

There have been a number of encouraging signs for the bulls in the last 24 hours. The weak close on Wednesday as rising interest rates in China saw buyers retreat from stocks across the region has faded from memory and buyers have maintained the grind higher for the ASX200 this week, which has risen by 1.3% with several hours of trade remaining.

It has been a very interesting week on the markets; the unusual event of seeing major US data in the third week of the month certainly didn't spook the markets as it reconfirmed what most already believe; taper will not happen in 2013.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 95 points or 0.6% while the S&P gained 0.3% to 1752 and the Nasdaq added 0.5%.

The US trade deficit came in at $38.8 billion in August, roughly in line with that recorded in July. The underlying trend remains of very gradual narrowing of the deficit. Initial jobless claims dipped further down by 12,000 to 350,000 last week. Flash US manufacturing fell from 52.8 to 51.1 in October. Output declined for the first time in four years, with the subindex dipping to 49.5.