Afternoon trading December 21

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

Half-time wrap:

Aussie shares retreated after Wall Street suffered its biggest reversal in two months.

The ASX 200 declined 34 points or 0.45% by mid-session. Gains in utilities and industrial companies were outmatched by falls across the wider market. Gold miners, consumer stocks and small caps were amongst the morning's worst performers.

US stocks dived overnight as investors took some profits from a rally that had lifted the Dow and Nasdaq for nine straight sessions and brought the S&P 500 to within 1% of a record. The three indices lost between 1.27% and 1.5%. S&P 500 futures rebounded in after-market trade, rising 0.16%.


Personal trading: Was too eager with the AZL pullback and had to double down to get out with a slimmer profit than patience would have offered. Struggled for ideas since then.