Daytrading December 28 afternoon

Thanks Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

Australia's benchmark share index neared 5700 for the first time in 16 months as the Santa rally continued today on slender volume.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was 64 points or 1.1% ahead at 5692, the index's strongest read since last August. All sectors made gains in the absence of headwinds following modest overnight gains in the US overnight. The best returns were in gold stocks +4.9%, metals & mining +3.4%, materials +2.7% and health +1.7%.

China's Shanghai Composite improved 0.11%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.22% and Japan's Nikkei shed 0.06%. Dow futures were recently ahead by 17 points or 0.09%.

Crude oil futures eased nine cents or 0.17% this morning to US$53.81 a barrel. Gold futures firmed $2.60 or 0.23% to US$1,141.40 an ounce. The dollar was buying 71.98 US cents.


The big end seems to be sucking up what little volume is around at this time of year - not always the case. Some years this period has offered good trading. Just not this year. Oh well. Had a dab at AKP in the absence of stronger intraday alternatives. Volume strength has been downward, so I took the hit. Been a sloppy end to a reasonable year. Looking forward to some volume.