Thanks Oscar and morning crew. Half-time round-up: Shares fell...

Thanks Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

Shares fell from a four-month high as news of a jump in full-time jobs failed to offset weak leads from Wall Street following a hawkish rates update from the Federal Reserve.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was 45 points or 0.8% weaker at 5540 as traders dumped resource stocks after the Fed rates outlook lit a fire under the greenback overnight. The gold sector slid 4.3% to an eight-month low as the precious metal continued to lose altitude this morning. Gold futures were lately down $20.20 or 1.74% at US$1,143.50 an ounce.

Also weak were energy stocks -3.1%, metals & mining -1.9% and telecoms -1.7%. The only sector to resist the downswing was IT +0.7%.

The dollar dived almost a cent to 74.19 US cents after the Fed raised its key rate by 25 basis points and updated its rate outlook for next year from a probable two hikes to three. The S&P 500 fell 0.81% as traders who had anticipated a dovish statement unwound positions.

“The fact that 11 of 17 voting members are calling for at least three rate hikes in 2017 reverberated around trading floors,” Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG, told Bloomberg. “Keep an eye on China as the strength of the dollar is not going to be welcomed by the Chinese corporates who have to borrow from debt markets to fund much of the recently announced acquisitions.”

Back home, a mixed employment report saw the jobless rate creep up to 5.7% last month from 5.6% in October despite the creation of 39,100 new jobs.

China's Shanghai Composite dipped 0.73% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 1.25%. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.22%. Dow futures were recently up 28 points or 0.14%.

Crude oil futures eased another 16 cents or 0.31% this morning to US$50.88 a barrel.


Global markets were over-extended and due a breather, so this pullback is no great surprise. The XJO closed yesterday at a level where you would anticipate significant resistance. Might need a couple of attempts to get through 5600. Trading: nailed NUH and got something out of TV2. Only misstep was a premature go at TRY. May prove costly.