The Australian share market drifted lower this morning on low volume ahead of this afternoon's rate announcement and Melbourne Cup.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was off 6 points or 0.1% at 4692 as falls among the big banks and Rio Tinto out-weighed gains for BHP and defensive sectors.
RBS Morgans Ipswich manager Tony Russell told Fairfax today's trade was "probably a little bit quiet due to the Melbourne Cup and in anticipation of the Reserve Bank's decision on interest rates today. Most of the consensus is for rates to remain unchanged, but if the RBA does come out and move them up then we might see a bit of reaction to the market."
Asian markets retreated. Japan's Nikkei eased 0.04% after a fall in car sales, Shanghai was off 0.37% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.19%. Dow futures were recently at -3.
Crude oil futures rallied another 35 cents this morning to $83.20 a barrel. The spot gold price was $1.60 stronger at $1,352.50 an ounce. The dollar was buying 98.72 U.S. cents.
Tricky session for this trader. Baffled by the extent of the selling in MML after yesterday's all-time high. Began buying this morning on what initially seemed like harmless profit-taking but I need a healthy recovery from these levels to turn a quid. Only profit this morning was a small scalp in RIM. Watching RXL for a bounce entry. Dud morning - should have gone to the bookies instead, lol.
