Afternoon trading December 18

Thanks @shovel40, @Fiji1, @Patterns and morning crew.

Half-time wrap:

Aussie shares hit reverse as investors weighed a flurry of takeover offers against selling pressure after a US Federal Reserve official warned rate cuts were not yet on the table.

The ASX 200 dropped 32 points or 0.43% by the halfway mark. Skinny gains in consumer discretionary and healthcare stocks were outweighed by declines across the other nine sectors. Santos, Telstra and Coles were among the heaviest drags.

Weak leads were partly offset by a trio of takeover offers. Link Administration popped 28.82% after agreeing to be acquired by Japan's Mitsubishi. Adbri soared 32.38% following an offer from US-listed CRH and the Barro Group. Further down the food chain, Pacific Smiles was lifted 17.99% by an unsolicited, non-binding offer from Genesis Capital.

Wall Street's seven-week bull run stuttered on Friday after the president of the New York Fed pushed back against expectations rate cuts could start as soon as March. The S&P 500 finished near flat.


Personal trading: Volumes appeared pretty weak at the spec end this morning. Drifting into the Xmas doldrums. I took retraces in LRV and PCK this morning to no great result as yet.