daytrading march 16 afternoon

Thanks Endless.

Half-time round-up:

Australian shares retreated this morning but pared early losses as Asian markets turned higher.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was down four points or 0.1% at 4273 as losses among cyclical stocks narrowly outweighed gains in small caps and defensives. A close at around that level today would seal the index's first weekly gain in three weeks as economic data out of the US overnight continued to point towards steady recovery.

"It looks like we are moving into the start of a more favorable upward spiral," Angus Gluskie of White Funds Management in Sydney told Fairfax. "We spend a lot of time monitoring US data and the way it's developing positively over the past few months is very encouraging for an overall outlook for global economic activity and prospects of listed companies."

Asian markets shook off early weakness. Japan's Nikkei advanced 0.24%, Shanghai 0.61% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.17%. Dow futures were recently up one point or less than 0.1%.

Crude oil futures rallied 18 cents this morning to US$105.45 a barrel. Spot gold advanced $2.40 to US$1,660.90 an ounce. The dollar was buying US$1.052.


Lucky the speccies are running hot because there's precious little happening among the mid-large caps. Not so much the Friday fade today as the Friday yawn. Just one buy here this morning - a speculator in SLR at last week's support level.