Afternoon trading February 26

Thanks @shovel40, @Fiji1, @uncleBuck and morning crew.

Half-time wrap:

Australian shares fell to a five-week low as mixed inflation data did little to clarify the interest rate outlook.

The ASX 200 declined 29 points or 0.36% towards its seventh loss in eight sessions.

A tentative mid-morning rebound stuttered with the release of January consumer inflation data. Headline annual inflation held steady at 2.5%. However, the annual trimmed mean ticked up to 2.8% from 2.7% in December and core inflation rose from 2.7% to 2.9%.

The market opened under pressure after Wall Street's major benchmarks tested four-week lows overnight. The S&P 500 declined 0.47%.

Here, energy, industrials and financials were the only sectors to post gains. Miners were among the biggest drag on the index after US President Donald Trump reaffirmed his intention to hit Canada and Mexico with tariffs from next week.


Personal trading: Been an unforgiving earnings season. Double-digit smackdowns seem to be the norm, rather than the exception. No wonder the XJO is on its knees. Back to trading: took advantage of the early weakness in OVT for a pip. Caught some of the rebound in PME. In and out of ALA for brokerage - shoulda been more patient. Took a loss in PDN after failing to note it released earnings this morning - schoolboy error. Also took BRN but hardly enthused about how that's going...