Thanks Brit and morning regulars. Half-time round-up: The share...

Thanks Brit and morning regulars.


Half-time round-up:

The share market pared last week's gains as a combination of Greek debt jitters, weak Chinese housing news and soft overseas indicators weighed on risk appetite.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was trading 34 points or 0.6% lower at 5702 with the big banks the biggest drag, pushing the financials sector down 1.2%. Other notable falls included consumer staples -0.8%, consumer discretionary -0.7% and health -0.7%. The metals & mining sector was off 0.2% as BHP spin-off South32 debuted on the bourse.

Markets were on edge following weekend reports that several Greek banks may be insolvent within weeks unless the government secures a new deal with lenders. Other headwinds included news of an eighth straight fall in Chinese house prices, the failure of Sydney stockbroker BBY and fears that a sell-off in sovereign bonds may resume this week after two days of calm.

“Given the uncertainties around the bond sell-off, the Fed’s eventual move to tightening and Greece, the next few months could remain volatile for shares,” Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors, told Bloomberg. “In anticipation of a correction in bonds and shares we have been running a higher than normal cash allocation and see recent moves as setting up investment opportunities.”

China's Shanghai Composite was last off 0.34% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.73%. Japan's Nikkei rallied 0.43%. Dow futures were recently off 16 points or 0.1%.

Crude oil futures cents rallied six cents or 0.1% this morning to US$59.75 a barrel. Spot gold was 80 cents higher at US$1,224.30 an ounce. The dollar was buying 80.26 US cents.


Lacklustre morning. Difficult to trade long against this sort of grinding retreat. Got some peanuts out of PXS but it's not a trade I'd frame and hang in the pool room. Took BXB near the low - appears safe but not wildly profitable. Part-fill in CL8 at the low.