daytrades april 7 afternoon

Thanks Barnsty. Welcome back Tweets - glad the move is going well.

Half-time round-up:

Australian shares flat-lined this morning as unemployment fell, the dollar neared US $1.05 and Asian markets traded mixed.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was off 1 point or 0.03% at 4911, with energy and financials the only sectors to advance. The weakest sectors were IT -1.1%, utilities -0.6% and metals & mining -0.4%.

The dollar jumped and the odds on an interest rate rise this winter improved after unemployment dropped to 4.9% last month. The economy created 37,800 jobs in March, topping the 24,000 rise tipped by economists.

"It's unequivocally a very good number," Commonwealth Bank senior economist John Peters told Fairfax. "It fits with the way we're looking at the economy with growth picking up, turbo charged by the commodity boom... We're now into the zone when the Reserve Bank of Australia starts to worry about how strengthening labour market conditions will flow through to wage pressures. The bottom line for us is it bolsters our view that there will be another 100 basis points in monetary policy tightening over the next 12 months."

The dollar peaked at US $1.0475 shortly after the release of the unemployment numbers at 11.30 and was recently buying US $1.047.

High interest rates was one of the factors blamed for another fall in construction activity to a two-year low. The AIG performance of construction index fell 5.2 points last month to 39.4, well below the 50-point level that divides contraction and expansion.

Most Asian markets retreated this morning, but Japan's Nikkei bucked the downtrend, rising 0.57% as a weaker yen benefitted exporters. Shanghai fell 0.09% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.11%. Dow futures were recently at -11.

Crude oil futures eased 26 cents this morning to $108.38 a barrel. Spot gold was $6 weaker at $1,455 an ounce.



Good to see a few shares pulling back to support levels this morning, offering relatively safe entries. Jumped on board IPL, CPU and MAP, but CAA was my trade of the morning, thanks mainly to leverage. Holding OMH but the blighter has barely bounced.