The ASX 200 touched an eight-week high this morning but fell back by lunchtime to trade little changed.
At 1pm the ASX 200 was up 4 points or 0.1% at 4857 as profit-taking in cyclical sectors outweighed modest gains in defensive shares. Telecoms +1.1% and property trusts +1.1% were the pick of the sectors. The mining sector was off 0.3%.
"The Dow has had seven consecutive days of gains and I think some people are looking for the market to pull back, because they want to buy and you're seeing a bit of profit-taking as well," RBS Morgans private client adviser Craig Walker told Fairfax. "Stocks that are dragging the market down include BHP, which is strange given the lead we got from commodities and base metals overnight."
Regional markets were mixed despite a positive overnight lead from Wall Street. Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.2% while Shanghai and Hong Kong's Hang Seng both rose 0.2%. Dow futures were recently at +5.
Crude oil futures were pressured by a recovery in the U.S. dollar, dipping 9 cents this morning to $82.58 a barrel. However, the spot gold price pared overnight losses, rising $3.60 to $1,123.10 an ounce.
Sluggish morning. I've been trading the swings in CPU in the absence of more profitable ideas. Thought QBE looked promising at the open but bailed for peanuts when the selling intensified. Small position in HSP off the low.
