Afternoon trading February 7

Thanks @shovel40, @Fiji1 and morning crew.

Half-time wrap:

A rebound in miners, positive leads from the US and well-received trading updates from Amcor, Cettire and property stocks helped lift the share market towards its first gain of the week.

The ASX 200 rallied 59 points or 0.77% by mid-session. Miners did much of the heavy lifting, mirroring a similar move among their US counterparts overnight. Lithium miners, including Pilbara Minerals and Liontown Resources, enjoyed some welcome relief from a sell-off that had driven many to multi-month lows. At the top end, South32 and Fortescue were the best of the heavyweights.

Among companies reporting, Cettire soared 24.29%, Dexus Industrial REIT 4.5%, BWP Trust 3.13%, Amcor 2.62% and Centuria Industrial REIT 1.51%. Santos plunged 5.02% after merger discussions with Woodside Energy ended without a deal.

US stocks edged higher overnight in choppy trade as traders continued to parse commentary from central bank officials for clues to the timing of the first rate cut. The S&P 500 firmed 0.23%.


Personal trading: Got something from MMI on retrace. Was at the right level for the low in MKG, but didn't get a fill.