Afternoon trading August 12

Thanks @shovel40, @Fiji1 and morning crew.

Half-time wrap:

The share market pushed for its fourth gain in five sessions following positive leads from the US and well-received trading updates from JB Hi-Fi and CAR Group.

The ASX 200 put on 45 points or 0.58% by mid-session. Gains in banks, telcos and consumer and tech stocks helped offset down-pressure from miners.

JB Hi-Fi advanced 8.25% to an all-time high as a special dividend and acquisition helped offset a decline in underlying profit. CAR Group added 4.68%.

US stocks pared their weekly losses on Friday as the market mood continued to stabilise after a sudden flare-up of recession worries and turmoil on currency markets triggered a steep three-day sell-off. The S&P 500 firmed 0.47% on Friday, reducing its loss for the week to 0.045%.


Personal trading: Slow morning. Got a couple of tiddlers on the go, but too thinly traded to warrant a mention.