Shares are lower for the first session in four, weighed down by weakness on Asian markets, soft US futures and a two-year low for consumer sentiment.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was off 14 points or 0.3% at 4570 as gains in industrials, small caps and telecoms were outweighed by falls among the big banks and miners.
"It's quite disappointing, considering the lead we got from overseas," Intersuisse director of equities Andrew Sekely told Fairfax. "Yesterday our market went up, which in a way, pre-empted the good news from the US last night."
US futures eased as Shanghai and Hong Kong lost ground this morning following yesterday's move by the People's Bank of China to dampen lending by increasing bank reserve requirements. Dow futures were recently at -33. Japan's Nikkei added 0.14%, Shanghai fell 0.28% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.3%.
Consumer sentiment fell to a post-GFC low this month, offering more bad news for retailers after yesterday's Colorado collapse. The WBC-MI Index of Consumer Sentiment eased 2.6% to 101.2, from 103.9 last month.
There was better news for house-builders, with housing starts increasing for the first quarter in a year. Housing starts increased by 3.1% during the March quarter, following a revised 4% decline in the December quarter.
Crude oil futures retreated 12 cents this morning to US $99.29 a barrel. Spot gold was $1 stronger at US $1,525.70 an ounce. The dollar was buying US $1.0676.
A glum morning, with volumes weak and bullish sentiment notably missing. It's pretty obvious that few believe the overnight bounce was anything more than a blip in the downtrend. Tough times. I've traded Paladin often enough over the last few weeks to know that any intraday dip under a 10-cent support level is usually a buying opportunity - I loaded up at the low but sold too early. Less successful so far with a speculator in PLV.
