Fed follow-through: Aus shares 0.36% higher at noon

Following a solid lead from US markets after another rate hike by the Fed, the Australian share market has followed suit this morning, opening in the black and now tracking 0.36 per cent higher at lunchtime. The materials space is leading the charge in the first two hours of trade, with some stellar gains of around 3 per cent in the big miners BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO). Energy is also faring well today with a rebound in the oil price and the likes of Santos (ASX:STO) and Beach Energy (ASX:BPT) also gaining close to 3 per cent. The Heath Care sector is faring the worst, followed by losses in Consumer Discretionaries.

The S&P/ASX 200 index is 19 points up at 5,793. On the futures market the SPI is 1 point lower.

Economic news

The trend unemployment rate in Australia was 5.8 per cent in February 2017, according to latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Meantime, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 5.9 per cent.

Company news

Myer Holdings Limited (ASX:MYR) has reported a 5.3 per cent jump in net profit to $62.8 million in the half to 28th of January 2017. The department store giant says the improved result was achieved against a backdrop of aggressive competition with heavy discounting and patchy consumer confidence. An interim dividend of 3 cents per share fully franked was declared. Shares in Myer are trading down 5.48 per cent at $1.08.

Rent.com.au Limited (ASX:RNT), an Australian website dedicated to rental properties, has announced its Renter Resume feature has now exceeded 75,000 resumes, with the rate of adoption increasing to an average of 550 new resumes created daily. The company says it is expecting a good finish to the current quarter and has reconfirmed its guidance of break even during H1 of FY18. Shares in Rent.com.au are trading up 3.85 per cent at $0.08.

Best and worst performers

The best performing sector is Materials, gaining 2.19 per cent to 9,985. Shares in Syrah Resources (ASX:SYR) have risen 9.62 per cent and trading at $2.56. Shares in Resolute Mining (ASX:RSG) and Saracen Minerals (ASX:SAR) are also stronger.

The worst performing sector is Healthcare, falling 0.41 per cent to 21,935. Shares in Regis Healthcare (ASX:REG) have fallen 3.83 per cent, trading at $4.27. Shares in Estia Health (ASX:EHE) and Ramsay Health (ASX:RHC) are also lower.

Gold and the dollar

Gold is trading at $US1,222 an ounce and the Australian dollar is buying $US0.7690.