PERTH: The Australian sharemarket was mildly higher at noon amid a flurry of corporate earnings, after the Reserve Bank’s meeting minutes showed the board believed the lower Australian dollar was boosting the economy.
At 12.05pm (AEST), the benchmark S & P/ASX200 index rose 17.4 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 5385.1, while the broader All Ordinaries index added 17.9 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 5386.5.
In local economic news, the RBA board said in the minutes of its August board meeting that recent falls in the Australian dollar are helping the economy adjust from a decade-long period of investment toward stronger growth in exports.
The comments further soften the RBA’s rhetoric around the Australian dollar, after months of warning the currency was too high, especially in light of plunging coal and iron prices.
On the local market, energy stocks were holding back the bourse from making further gains.
Overnight, US oil prices retreated, with the US Nymex crude surrendering 1.5 per cent to a new six-and-a-half-year low. while the global benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.9 per cent.
Woodside Petroleum fell 1.01 per cent to $32.26, while Santos added 1.34 per cent to $5.90.
