daytrading april 17 afternoon

Thanks Endless.

Half-time round-up:

Australian shares inched higher this morning but pared gains as the Shanghai composite declined and the Reserve Bank reaffirmed that future rate cuts depend on benign inflation.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was ahead four points or 0.1% at 4306 after earlier running as high as 4321. Financials, industrials and most defensive sectors were trading positive. Gold and energy stocks lost ground and materials were flat.

The market came off its high as shares in Shanghai and Hong Kong fell away. Japan's Nikkei put on 0.18% this morning, Shanghai dropped 0.52% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.37%. Dow futures were recently down five points or less than 0.1%.

"We are at a point where you can easily see some seasonal weakness," Angus Gluskie, managing director of White Funds Management, told Bloomberg. "Asian markets were being sold off a bit recently, yet there's some growing confidence and we are starting to see some turnaround. We are in a much better position to head off any crisis than we were 12 months ago. Add to that, I think the US has come a long way."

The minutes from the last Reserve Bank meeting indicated the prospects for a cut in the cash rate next month depend on the first-quarter inflation report, due next week.

"If slower growth in demand could be expected to result in a more moderate inflation outcome, then a case could be made for a further easing in monetary policy," the minutes said. "The board would have the opportunity at its next meeting to review the inflation outlook based on comprehensive new data on prices, as well as information on demand and output. Members judged it prudent to evaluate those data before considering a further policy adjustment."

Crude oil futures eased 13 cents this morning to US$103 a barrel. Spot gold was $4.10 softer at US$1,649.10 an ounce. The dollar was buying US$1.0337.


Those muddled overnight leads were never going to deliver much excitement on the ASX this morning, and so it has proved. I squeezed a wage out of IVR, JHX and a part-fill in PRR. All very ho-hum.