Afternoon trading May 16

Thanks @shovel40, @Fiji1 and morning crew.

The low-volatility sideways drift for the ASX 200 continued this morning. The benchmark reached the halfway mark 0.2% in the red after the RBA reiterated that more rate rise are possible, and Chinese industrial production expanded less than expected. A three-year low in consumer confidence didn't help.

The bulk metal miners were the best of the heavyweights, but trimmed their gains following the China data. Defensives were the biggest losers. Consumer staples, healthcare providers and REITs led the losses. The big banks were mixed.

Falling US futures kept a lid on risk appetite. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.16%.

Personal trading: Manic morning. Got three pips out of the initial bounce in WSR then made the novice mistake of rushing back in on pullback. And watched it fall, and fall. That loss likely wiped out most of the profits from elsewhere scalping BHP twice, FMG, CSL and ANZ.