Afternoon trading February 20

Thanks @shovel40, @Fiji1 and morning crew.

Half-time wrap:

The share market took a breather following three days of gains as a US market holiday, overnight weakness in key commodities and a mixed batch of earnings cooled buying interest.

At the halfway mark, the ASX 200 was down 21 points or 0.27%. Resource and utility stocks were the biggest drags. Telcos and REITs prevented a deeper fall.

BHP dipped 0.11% after nickel write-downs and increased costs to manage the Samarco dam disaster in Brazil dented its first-half profit. Star Entertainment dived 20.54% on news the NSW regulator will reexamine the company's suitability to hold a casino licence.

The minutes from this month's Reserve Bank policy meeting, released this morning, showed the central bank considered raising official rates before opting to hold at 4.35%. The Board considered inflation "had moderated but was still high, and that it was not yet possible to rule in or out further increases in interest rates."

Wall Street was closed overnight for President's Day. Europe's leading stock benchmark, the Stoxx 600, edged up 0.16% to a two-year high.


Personal trading: Well, I have three trades on the go and they've all done precisely nothing. So, um, nothing to see here. Look - a squirrel!