daytrades august 17 afternoon

Thanks Tweets. Half-time round-up:

Shares inched higher for just the second day in six after a benign rates outlook from the Reserve Bank and another mixed morning in Asia.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was up 19 points or 0.44% at 4458 as Shanghai crept higher for a second day and Tokyo continued to slide. Industrials fronted sector gains on the local market, rising 1.4% as most sectors recorded modest advances.

The morning's earning reports were a mixed bag, with UGL, SAI, MND trading higher but OST and PRY sliding.

The minutes from the last Reserve Bank meeting, released this morning, suggest interest rates are likely to stay on hold until there is a significant change in the outlook. Analysts said inflation figures due in October are the next likely catalyst for a rate rise.

The Nikkei was lower for the sixth day in seven as a rising yen pressured exporters. The Nikkei was off 0.74% in morning trade, Shanghai was up 0.23% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 0.26%. Dow futures were recently at +9.

Crude oil futures recovered 31 cents this morning to reach $75.37 a barrel. The spot gold price eased $1.90 to $1,223.40 an ounce. The Aussie dollar was moderately higher against the major currencies, buying 90.03 U.S. cents.


A low-key morning here but once again promising for the bulls. There are some nice basing formations building out there. I traded SHL this morning. Others are: MCC, WOR, WTF, ALL, MRM and perhaps MBN. Nice set-ups for any market rally in the next day or two.