daytrades july 20 afternoon

Thanks Tweets. Half-time round-up:

Local shares pushed higher this morning, shrugging off weak consumer spending data and morning losses in Japan.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was up 28 points or 0.66% at 4387 as gains for the big banks and miners outweighed losses among energy and gold shares.

In local economic news, consumer spending slipped to its lowest growth rate since the height of the global financial crisis, according to a report released this morning. The Commonwealth Bank Business Sales Indicator slipped 0.3% last month, following a similar decline in May.

"Consumers feel as (if) they are under siege at present and they need a period of interest rate stability so they can focus on both the positive and negative influences on the household budget," CommSec chief economist Craig James said in a statement quoted on Fairfax websites.

Next week's inflation data will determine whether interest rates rise next month, according to the minutes from the last Reserve Bank monetary policy meeting, released this morning. The minutes said inflation data due on July 28 will guide the cash rate decision at the central bank's August 3 meeting. The Australian dollar initially eased after the Reserve Bank said it expected inflation to ease, reducing the odds on interest rate rises.

Asian markets were mixed. Japan's Nikkei fell 1.2% as trading resumed after yesterday's public holiday, but Shanghai was recently up 1.13% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.94%. Dow futures reversed sharp early losses after poorly-received after-market profit reports this morning from IBM and Texas Instruments to trade recently at +13.

Crude oil futures rallied 47 cents this morning to $76.88 a barrel. The spot gold price was $1.10 weaker at $1,182.70 an ounce. The Aussie dollar was stronger against all the major currencies, buying 0.8766 U.S. cents, up 0.9%.


Turning into a bullish morning after all. U.S. futures have improved substantially and China is strong for a second day. Just one trade here: building a position in NUF as it rallies for the first day since the profit warning. Starting to look like a reversal day on good volume. Plenty of room to move higher if the shorts cover.