Hello team, good to be back. Thanks Keyser (and TB) for covering this slot.
Half-time round-up:
Shares pared early losses as Chinese economic data topped expectations, dampening concerns that government attempts to rein in debt would stifle growth.
The ASX 200 reached the halfway mark of the session flat at 5765 after earlier dipping as low as 5735. The metals & mining sector rose 0.5% to a three-month high after figures showed the Chinese economy grew 6.9% last quarter year on year, and last month's industrial production, retail sales and asset investment all exceeded economists' expectations. The dollar held near Friday night's two-year high, lately buying 78.13 US cents.
"This time a year ago, things were a bit dicey with concerns about a growth slowdown and pressure on capital outflows and the currency, but as we expected in the lead-up to party congress, stability has reigned," Stephen Schwartz, head of Asia-Pacific sovereign ratings at Fitch, told CNBC. "Growth momentum has stayed pretty high and the authorities have really tamped down the pressures on the capital outflow."
The news failed to reverse a soft open on the Shanghai Composite, lately down 1.02%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rallied 0.39%. Trading on Japan's Nikkei was suspended for a public holiday. Dow futures were recently flat at +3 points or +0.01%.
Back home, the IT sector put on 0.6%, energy 0.5% and industrials 0.3%. Telecoms slid 1.2%, consumer discretionary 0.7% and gold 1%.
Crude oil futures put on another 12 cents or 0.26% this morning to US$46.66 a barrel. Gold futures gained $2.80 or 0.23% to US$1,230.30 an ounce.
A welcome partial reversal this morning on those Chinese numbers. Doesn't look like I missed a lot last week, so far as the index is concerned - it continued to trade within its recent range. Been slopping around here for two months now. Trading: placed plenty of orders but didn't get any hits. Better to start cautious and miss than pile in to losing trades.
