Afternoon trading September 19

Thanks @shovel40, @Fiji1 and morning crew.
Half-time wrap:

The share market eased for a second day after the minutes from this month's RBA meeting showed the central bank considered raising benchmark interest rates and is willing to hike again.

The ASX 200 declined 27 points or 0.38% to 7203. Gains in energy producers and gold miners were comprehensively outweighed by declines across the broader market. Property, healthcare and industrial companies were the biggest drags.

The Reserve Bank said it discussed lifting the cash rate target this month before deciding downside risks to the Chinese economy had increased and there was a risk the Australian economy might "slow more sharply than forecast". On balance, the board opted to leave the cash rate unchanged at 4.1%, but "noted that some further tightening in policy may be required should inflation prove more persistent than expected".

This morning's retreat followed a sideways session on Wall Street ahead of interest rate decisions this week in the US, UK and Japan. The S&P 500 finished with a slim gain of 0.07% after paring a stronger advance earlier in the session.



Personal trading: Dud morning. The Iress fiasco screwed the first half hour when the best opportunities emerge. Scraped peanuts from one tiddler but didn't trust what little I could see of the market to stick with it. Wanted RR1 at 1.7c but didn't get a fill.