Afternoon trading May 22

Thanks @shovel40, @Fiji1 and morning crew.

Half-time wrap:

Fresh highs on Wall Street helped Australian shares edge higher.

The ASX 200 briefly gained as much as 28 points before paring its rise to four points or 0.05% at mid-session. Early gains across nine of eleven sectors briefly helped propel the index to within 10 points of last week's six-week high.

Miners, utilities and industrials set the pace. Drags included Eagers Automotive -13.54% (disappointing guidance), Telstra -4.06% (on-going reaction to yesterday's job cuts and guidance) and Inghams -10.99% (avian flu outbreak in Victoria).

US stocks scaled fresh heights ahead of earnings tonight from Nvidia and the minutes from this month's Federal Reserve policy meeting. The S&P 500 firmed 0.25%. The Nasdaq also closed at a record, up 0.22%.


Personal trading: Caught some of the first bounce in CGR. Part-fill in LDX from the low. Also took RNX.