Daytrading November 29 afternoon

Thanks Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

Shares marked time this morning, with traders reluctant to make big bets ahead of tomorrow's OPEC meeting and a weekend referendum in Italy on constitutional reform.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was seven points or 0.1% stronger at 5472 following a tight, rangebound morning. The index dipped as low as 5453 in early action, but struggled to gain traction as declines in telecoms -2%, gold -1.3% and industrials -0.6% largely offset gains in financials +0.7% and health +0.4%.

Caution crept into global markets overnight as optimism faded that OPEC members will agree on crude oil production caps tomorrow night and amid fears that Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi may lose this weekend's referendum, plunging plans to rescue the country's ailing banks into crisis. Read more here.

Analysts at Citi told Reuters they expect Italian voters to reject change: "Citi's base case is for a NO vote to prevail with political uncertainties likely to remain elevated over the near-term. It's worth watching whether PM Renzi resigns in the event of a No vote as promised."


Asian markets drifted lower. China's Shanghai Composite shed 0.06%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.08% and Japan's Nikkei 0.26%. Dow futures were recently up two points or 0.01%.

Crude oil futures eased 24 cents or 0.5% this morning to US$46.84 a barrel. Gold futures were $1.40 or 0.12% firmer at US$1,195.20 an ounce. The dollar was buying 74.88 US cents.


Global markets have run hard and now appear to be looking for reasons for a retrace or at the least, a breather. Italy may be the trigger if they join the list of nations giving the establishment the middle finger this year. Voters are in such a cantankerous mood these days they'd reject free ice-cream for life if they thought it would piss off someone in authority. Trading: chipped wins out of VOC (before it plunged), MLX and EQU.