Afternoon trading August 30

Thanks @shovel40, @Fiji1 and morning crew.

Half-time wrap:

The share market continued to trim a losing month after cooler-than-expected July inflation data sharpened hopes of an extended interest rate pause.

The ASX 200 surged 88 points or 1.22% towards a third straight gain. Industrials, healthcare providers and gold miners spearheaded the advance, supported by the major banks, REITs and supermarkets. Wesfarmers and Telstra dragged as they traded ex-dividend.

The market added to early gains following mid-morning news that annual inflation fell to 4.9% last month from 5.4% in June. Declines in fuel and fruit and veg prices helped offset increases in housing and other foodstuffs. Economists had anticipated a smaller drop in annual price increases of around 5.2%.

“Food inflation continues to ease across most categories, while fruit and vegetable prices fell 5.4 per cent compared to 12 months ago due to favourable growing conditions leading to increased supply,” Michelle Marquardt, ABS head of prices statistics, said.

Wall Street climbed overnight on hopes cooling in the US economy will stave off additional rate hikes. Investors welcomed soft job vacancy and consumer confidence data as reasons for the Federal Reserve to leave benchmark rates unchanged. The S&P 500 jumped 1.45%, its best return since June 2.

Personal trading: Placed plenty of low-ball orders, but didn't get many hits. Caught WYX near the low. Took RR1 for a centrepoint trade. Too greedy with RKT - wanted 1.2c on the retrace. Also paper-testing a theory using intraday channels. Jury still out on whether it's worth pursuing.