The Aussie market is slightly stronger so far today, following the mixed leads provided by international markets last night.

The XJO is presently 10 points (+0.2%) in the green, at 4390. The sectors are fairly evenly balanced between winners and losers, with utilities, financials and telcos the best performers whilst energy, industrials and healthcare stocks are the weakest links.

In company news, Webjet has been down as much as 10% today, after releasing market guidance which failed to impress the market.

Elsewhere, CSR has jumped over 6%, after reporting a 60% slump in first half profit, which was better than the market expected. In local economic news, consumer confidence surged higher in October, according to the latest Westpac Consumer Sentiment survey.

The consumer sentiment index rose 5.2% to 104.3. It is the highest level the index has been at in 19-months, and the first time over 100 in nine months.

A reading above 100 indicates that more consumers are optimistic about the economy than pessimistic. Westpac Chief Economist Bill Evans said the result was surprising and explains the strong uplift to households becoming

Midday Market Update: Aussie Going Nowhere is a post from: Australian Stock Report Market Pulse Blog