Afternoon trading August 15

Thanks @shovel40, @Fiji1 and morning crew.

Half-time wrap:

Aussie shares pushed for a fifth straight gain as positive US leads helped offset declines in key commodities and mixed July jobs news.

The ASX 200 reached mid-session 18 points or 0.23% ahead. An earnings bump from Telstra and strength in Wesfarmers and the big banks kept the market in positive territory. Bulk metal miners struggled after iron ore dropped below the key US$100 a metric ton level.

The unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked up to 4.2% last month as record participation outweighed a third month of strong job gains. Total employment increased by 58,000.

Wall Street bashed out a fifth straight advance overnight after a three-and-a-half-year low in inflation pointed to rates relief next month. The S&P 500 gained 0.38%.


Personal trading: One of those irritating mornings when my buy orders were mostly in the right place and mostly didn't get filled. Only entries were measly part-fills in AQC and FEX that were worth... oh, about $40 in profit after brokerage.