Afternoon trading December 7

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

Half-time wrap:

The Australian share market trimmed some of yesterday's surge gains as a 15-month low in energy stocks outweighed modest advances in tech, industrial and utility companies.

Weak leads from Wall Street helped drag the ASX 200 down 18 points or 0.25% by mid-session. Fortescue Metals, Rio Tinto and Newmont were the pick of the heavyweights. Further down the food chain, takeover target Perpetual, Pinnacle Investments and Afterpay owner Block provided some of the best gains.

Woodside and Santos both dropped more than 2% after Brent crude closed at its lowest overnight since June. Crude prices have fallen this week amid weak demand signals and scepticism that OPEC member countries will adhere to voluntary production caps announced last week. The Australian energy sector fell more than 2%, testing a level last seen in September last year.

Overnight, a late fade dragged US stocks to a third straight loss. The S&P 500 eased 0.39%.


Personal trading: Skinny rebound profit from LNR. Took the hit from NFL from yesterday - little sign of insto CR selling easing up. In and out of SHN for brokerage. May try again lower if it gets there.