Afternoon trading Feb 23

Thanks Oscar - good to have you back.


Half-time round-up:

The share market continued to put the start-of-month correction behind it, cementing a second week of gains with a third straight advance.  

The ASX 200 put on 41 points or 0.7% by the halfway point to reach 5992, its highest point since the correction accelerated on February 6. A broad rally today lifted all sectors except consumer staples (-0.1%), led by gold stocks +1.9%, metals & mining +1.9% and IT +1%.

The rally came despite a mixed close on Wall Street overnight as US bond yields retreated from Wednesday's four-year high. While the S&P 500 and Dow recorded gains, the Nasdaq dropped for a third night. This morning S&P 500 futures were recently ahead 4.25 points or 0.16%.

Asian markets moved higher. China's Shanghai Composite edged up 0.05%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.77% and Japan's Nikkei 0.31%.

Crude oil futures eased seven cents or 0.11% this morning to US$62.70 a barrel. Gold futures dipped 20 cents or 0.02% to US$1,332.50 an ounce. The dollar was buying 78.39 US cents.


This market keeps grinding higher. It will be interesting to see if the 6000 level offers any serious resistance or if we grind on through. Either way, it's good to see something akin to 'normality' return after the correction. Trading: I came into the session distracted and under-prepared and got exactly what that approach deserves: nada. GLA was the one that got away. Too cautious, didn't chase.