Thanks Oscar and morning crew.
Half-time round-up:
Aussie shares struggled for direction at the start of a holiday-shortened week heavy on economic data.
The ASX 200 traded in a tight 21-point band before reaching mid-session six points or 0.1 per cent weaker at 6245. Positive leads from Wall Street proved insufficient to tempt investors to risk their hard-earned ahead of the Easter long weekend and a long list of potential market-moving data this week, including domestic jobs figures, Chinese quarterly GDP and the first full week of what is expected to be a soft corporate earnings season in the US.
A second day of gains for the big four banks cushioned the local market from a deeper fall. CBA put on 0.7 per cent, ANZ 0.8 per cent, NAB 0.5 per cent and Westpac 0.4 per cent.
Energy stocks also provided support, with Whitehaven Coal among the index's best performers with a rise of 3.8 per cent after last week announcing a 12 per cent increase in quarterly coal sales. Pendal Group suffered the biggest fall on the index, diving 8.3 per cent as the market digested Friday's news that the fund manager's annualised fee income declined by $7.5 million last quarter.
Gold stocks took a hit as the precious metal flirted with a technical support zone that has sustained the price this year. Gold futures started the week with a drop of $4.60 or 0.4 per cent in the US to $US1,290.60 an ounce. Analysts warned that a drop through $US1,290 may trigger further selling. On the local market Evolution Mining shed 3.1 per cent, Northern Star 2.8 per cent and Newcrest 2.7 per cent.
Wall Street ended last week on an upbeat note as solid bank earnings steadied nerves about the upcoming reporting season and as Chinese export data rebounded. The S&P 500 put on 0.66 per cent and the Dow Jones 1.03 per cent. US stock futures were steady this morning, S&P 500 futures recently up a quarter of a point or less than 0.1 per cent.
Friday's news of a recovery in Chinese exports helpedlift Asian markets this morning. China's Shanghai Composite gained 1.4 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 1 percent and Japan's Nikkei 1.5 per cent.
Oil pulled back further from its recent five-month high. Texas crude started the week with a retreat of 25 cents or 0.4 per cent to $US63.64 a barrel. On currency markets, the dollar was buying 71.74 US cents.
Turning to the week ahead, the first of big-ticket economic releases comes tomorrow with the release of minutes from the last Reserve Bank meeting. Company earnings are likely to overshadow macroeconomic issues in the US for the next few weeks. Goldman Sachs and Citigroup report tonight.
Trading: broadly positive morning. Picked up SPX at the placement price for a pip or two. Took EXL when the decline looked overdone. Also took PDL, yet to come good.
