Afternoon trading April 28

Thanks for stepping in this morning, @RubyRuby01. Thanksalso to regulars @mirren, @Fiji1 and morning crew.

A holiday-shortened week looked likely to leave the share market modestly lower as an end-of-week rebound stuttered. The ASX 200 rallied 0.28% this morning off a two-week low. The advance brought the index back within 20 points of where it started the week.

The major banks and miners all rose, offsetting modest declines in the likes of Coles, CSL and Wesfarmers. The Small Ords outpaced the big end with a rise of 0.7%.

Personal trading: There was a running gag in the TV show 'Cheers' where one of the barflies (Paul) would leave the bar room just before any major plot development. He'd come back in just after the action, look around and go "I missed something, didn't I? I always miss everything!" That was my morning's trading.