Australian shares retreated roughly in line with Asian markets this morning as Spain's rising borrowing costs sapped risk appetite.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was down 16 points or 0.4% at 4120 after yesterday hitting its highest level in a month. Rallies in gold stocks +1.1%, health +0.3% and consumer staples +0.2% were swamped by losses across the rest of the market as the resource sector reversed much of yesterday's gains.
"We are positioned quite negatively," Tim Riordan of Sydney hedge fund Parker Asset Management told Bloomberg. "We see Europe escalating rather than solving its problems. The focus is rolling on to Spain, and with bond yields going over 7%, this has been a red flag in the past. You're in a bit of a downward spiral and this leads us to be fairly cautious."
Japan's Nikkei this morning fell 0.26%, Shanghai 0.38% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.3%. An earnings surprise from Oracle after Wall Street closed this morning did little for Dow futures, which were recently down five points or less than 0.1%.
The minutes from the last Reserve Bank showed this month's rate cut was a narrow call. The bank said, "The arguments were finely balanced" between domestic strength and overseas volatility, with tame inflation and European concerns tipping the scales in favour of a cut.
Crude oil futures rallied nine cents this morning to US$83.14 a barrel. Spot gold was $1 weaker at US$1,627.70 an ounce. The dollar was buying US$1.0127.
Nice to see a bounce off the morning lows - either the buyers think the market has seen the worst of this latest downturn or they're positioning themselves for news from the US Fed or G20 in the next day and a half. I missed the first bounce in SSN this morning but caught the second for a few pips. Also had a look at AVQ - the reaction seems mildly overdone considering how thoroughly yesterday's news was anticipated.
