Soft Chinese factory data released just before lunchtime stifled an attempted rebound in Australian shares from early losses this morning.
At 1pm the ASX 200 was trading 11 points or 0.2% lower at 5328 after falling as low as 5301 in early action. The metals & mining sector led the recovery, rising 0.2%. Also positive were the gold sector +0.8% and materials +0.1%. Industrials -0.8%, energy 0.6% and consumer stocks were among the biggest drags.
The market sold off a second time following the 12.45pm EST release of Chinese data showing manufacturing activity contracted more than economists expected last month. HSCB's flash PMI for March fell to 48.1 from 48.5 in February. Economists had anticipated a mild improvement in the measure to 48.7. The Australian dollar fell around a quarter of a cent, recently buying 90.6 US cents.
Asian markets were all positive despite the data. China's Shanghai Composite edged up 0.03%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.91% and Japan's Nikkei 1.64%. Dow futures were recently off two points or less than 0.1%.
Crude oil futures slid 22 cents this morning to US$99.24 a barrel. Spot gold slumped $7.50 to US$1,327.20 an ounce.
And the Chinese slowdown continues. Not a catastrophic result but a continuation of the recent negative trend. Despite that, there has been a real improvement in trading conditions over the last fortnight. Lots of lovely pullbacks offering decent entries. SEK was a beauty this morning. I also picked 2.1c as a low-risk intraday entry for CFU. MLD hasn't played out quite as hoped but also offered limited downside. Exited PYC from Friday for a slim profit.
