daytrades march 3 afternoon

Thanks Tweets. Half-time round-up:

Regional markets shrugged off a rising oil price this morning but Australian shares were little changed at lunchtime.

At 1 pm the ASX 200 was down 2 points or 0.05% at 4800 as losses among the big banks and small caps offset gains in resource stocks and property trusts.

Asian markets rallied despite a flat overnight lead from Wall Street and an up-trending oil price. Japan's Nikkei added 0.53%, Shanghai 0.13% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.24%. Dow futures were recently at +23.

Oil touched US$102.70 a barrel this morning but recently retreated to $102.51.

Building approvals plunged in January as floods undermined construction plans. Approvals suffered their worst fall in more than eight years, down a seasonally-adjusted 15.9% from the previous month. Construction work is expected to pick up as rebuilding in Queensland and Victoria commences.

The trade surplus tightened in January, as both exports and imports shrank from December levels. The surplus was $1.875 billion, seasonally adjusted, down from $2.018 billion in December. Exports and imports both fell 4%.

The services sector contracted for a fourth month in February but improved from the month before. The AIG/CBA Performance of Services Index rose 3.2 points to 48.7, still below the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction.

Spot gold eased $1.90 this morning to $1,432.10 an ounce. The dollar was buying US $1.0155.


Busy morning here after a slow start. FMJ provided the excitement. I made good money but it could have been so much better - missed the top of the bounce by a country mile. This share should provide more fun and games over the next few days. Picked up some OEX near the lows and FWD when the ex-dividend dump began to look overdone. Thought OKN would be an easy bounce from these levels but there's a determined seller. FXJ buy delivered peanuts.