daytrades march 16 afternoon

Thanks Barnsty. Half-time round-up:

Shares are higher for the first session in six, led by resource stocks, following a big rebound in Japanese equities this morning.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was 29 points or 0.65% stronger at 4558, with cyclical sectors advancing and defensives accounting for any weakness this morning, both signs of a pick-up in risk appetite. The metals & mining sector was ahead 2.3% as the big miners pared five days of falls. Property trusts, health stocks and consumer staples all lost ground.

"Our market is going forward as the Nikkei gets better," RBS Morgans private client adviser Bill Bishop told Fairfax. "I think the banks and the big resources got oversold yesterday. It's understandable why it happened. There is certainly a lot of uncertainty still around."

Japan's Nikkei index snapped back after tumbling 16% in two days, rising 6.3% in early trade this morning despite reports of a fresh fire at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant near Tokyo. More recently the Nikkei was ahead 5.37%. Two engineers were missing following an explosion at the plant today.

US futures turned positive and other Asian markets recovered some of this week's heavy losses. Dow futures were recently at +56. Shanghai rallied 0.34% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.46%.

The morning's domestic economic reports pointed to slowing growth in the months ahead. The WBC/MI Leading Index, which gauges the likely pace of future economic activity, eased to a rate of 3.5% in January from 4.6% in December but remained above the long-term trend of 3.3%. Housing starts were weaker than economists expected, falling 5.3% last quarter.

Futures markets were this morning pricing in no chance of another interest rate rise this year following the catastrophe in Japan, the world's third largest economy. The odds on a rate cut next month rose to 55% this morning, according to a Fairfax report.

Crude oil futures rallied 43 cents this morning to $97.95 a barrel. Spot gold was unchanged at $1,399 an ounce. The dollar was buying US 99.3 cents, partly recovering after tumbling nearly 3 US cents in 24 hours during yesterday's swing away from risk assets on world markets.


Fortune certainly favoured the brave this morning - well done to those who capitalised. I was more cautious than I should have been and was blighted by part-fills in the shares I bought. Rode recoveries in ARU, VOR and FMJ but only had a full tank of petrol in one of them. Later picked up some CCL when it neared support but again missed a proper fill.