After four weeks of successive losses the Australian wool market has settled this week, with most merino types recording increases. The national offering reduced to 23,371 bales, a reduction of 1,967 bales when compared to the previous week. When compared year on year, the national offering has fallen by 165,300 bales, this equates to a fall of 10.9%. Sales opened on Tuesday, with only Melbourne and Sydney in operation. From the opening lot, it was immediately apparent that buyer sentiment had improved. This resulted in price increases across all merino fleece types. The individual Micron Price Guides (MPGSs) rose by 14 to 47 cents. These rises helped push the AWEX Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) up by 11 cents, the rise in the EMI would have been higher if not for the negative movements in the crossbred MPGs. On Wednesday it was only Melbourne and Fremantle in operation. The Melbourne market could not continue its upward path, the individual MPGs generally fell by 2 to 24 cents, with only the 18.0 and 18.5 micron MPGs recording further increases. The Fremantle region, which did not enjoy the gains of the previous day, opened strongly, pushing prices higher. Main buyer interest was in the finer microns, resulting in price increases in the 19.5 micron and finer MPGs of between 16 and 41 cents. A limited number of broader wools lost ground. The EMI fell by 2 cents on the second day, with only the Melbourne movements factored in. The EMI gained 9 cents for the series, closing the week at 1,179 cents. As mentioned earlier, the crossbreds did not attract the same interest as the merinos and recorded further losses. The MPGs for 26.0 to 30.0 micron dropped by 20 to 26 cents. Although the MPG for 32.0 micron only fell by 1 cent, this fall pushed it down to a new record low of 270 cents.