Afternoon trading February 28

Thanks Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

Shares marked time this morning as Chinese factory data missed expectations and a US official dampened hopes for a trade deal.

The ASX 200 tracked sideways for much of the morning before edging up four points or less than 0.1% to 6154. The flat session followed confirmation from China that the lingering trade war with the US is continuing to weigh on manufacturing activity. Data this morning showed that the closely-watched official purchasing managers' index contracted for a third month. The February PMI was 49.2, down from a reading of 49.5 last month and below economists' expectations. A separate measure of services activity also softened. 

Overnight, US shares closed mixed but mostly lower after US trade negotiator Robert Lighthizer said China needed to do more to secure a deal. That helped drag the S&P 500 down 0.05%. S&P 500 futures were recently down 1.5 points or 0.1%.

Back here, the market was buoyed by miner Rio Tinto, which advanced 2% to a level last seen during the dark days of the financial crisis. The rally followed the company's decision to reward shareholders with a special dividend after announcing a full-year profit increase late yesterday of 2% to $US8.8 billion.  

There was also good news for investors in Bingo Industries, which jumped 16% after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission gave the waste manager the go-ahead to acquire a rival named Dial-A-Dump. Bingo will pay $578 million and sell its Banksmeadow processing facility in Sydney to soothe the regulator's concerns about competition in the building waste sector.

Ramsay Health Care marched 6.1% to a nine-month high after the private-hospital operator revealed a 9.6% increase in half-year profit to $270.1 million. Investors in Harvey Norman seemed underwhelmed by a 7.3% increase in half-year profit after tax, leaving the retailer's shares steady at $3.56.

However, not all companies reporting this morning fared as well. Malaysia-based rare earths miner Lynas slumped 8.2%, builder Adelaide Brighton 5.2% and poultry farmer Inghams 7.8%.

Over in Asia, China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng both dipped 0.1% andJapan's Nikkei shed 0.4%.

Crude oil futures were flat at $US56.93 a barrel. Gold futures eased $2.20 or 0.2% to $US1,318.90 an ounce. The dollar was buying 71.3 US cents.

Potential marker-moving events over the next 24 hours include the conclusion today of the summit in Vietnam between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Delayed quarterly GDP figures are due tonight in the US. Another round of Chinese factory data is due tomorrow. And back home a slower day for corporate updates will tomorrow feature several Hot Copper favourites, including Leigh Creek Energy, DigitalX, Metallica Minerals and Otto Energy.

 

 

Trading: the phrase "no brainer" gets thrown around so much it has become something of a red flag, but PTM dropping 55c on a 13c dividend payout really did fit that description. I got in at $5.14 and enjoyed the recovery. Gave back some of those profits when I cut my losses on GSW - half-year report didn't deliver the bounce I hoped for. Swings and roundabouts.