daytrading june 17 afternoon

Thanks Endless.

Half-time round-up:

The share market is on track for back-to-back gains for the first time in three weeks after rallying banks and positive US futures helped overcome early weakness.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was 20 points or 0.4% stronger at 4813, more than 70 points above the intraday low. A 1.6% rise in the financials sector and a 0.9% gain for consumer staples and 0.3% rise in utilities was enough to drive the index into positive territory despite falls across most of the market.

The market was supported by bullish US futures. Dow futures were recently up 55 points or 0.4%. Asian markets were mixed. Shanghai was down 0.42% but Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 1.09% and Japan's Nikkei ahead 1.21%.

Crude oil futures fell 32 cents this morning to US$97.57 a barrel. Spot gold was 10 cents weaker at US$1,391.40 an ounce. The dollar was buying 96.03 US cents.



A very bullish morning on the index, even if the rally is unusually narrow (basically the big banks and WOW). Looks like there's a lot of money betting that the Fed is going to offer balm for fevered brows on Wednesday to take the heat out of this market. Perhaps also bets that a short-term bottom is in for the dollar, making dividend plays attractive to overseas investors once again. Unsure why US futures are so enthusiastic - something break over the weekend? Been a nice morning for bargain hunting among the mid-caps, with the improvement in the index offering encouragement. I had wins in ABC, NHF, CDA and even LYC. Still holding AMC.