Afternoon trading January 15

Thanks Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

The ASX shook off the trade war and Brexit blues, launching another assault on the 5800 level as US futures moved higher.

The ASX 200 rallied 21 points or 0.4% to 5795 mid-session as traders bought energy stocks +1%, health +0.7% and financials +0.5%. The  materials sector, which lost ground yesterday following disappointing Chinese trade data, clawed back +0.2%. 

US equity futures showed no concern about tonight's Brexit vote in the UK parliament. S&P 500 futures were recently ahead 15 points or 0.58% despite expectations that lawmakers will reject British Prime Minister Theresa May's exit deal.

"If the government gets crushed, then you have a big risk off move," Michael Schumacher, director of rate strategy at Wells Fargo, told CNBC. "If it's a close defeat, you might see equities do okay."

A positive morning on Asian markets saw China's Shanghai Composite rise 0.33%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.99% andJapan's Nikkei 0.53%.

Crude oil futures put on 70 cents or 1.39% this morning to US$51.21 a barrel. Gold futures inched up $1.50 or 0.12%to US$1,292.80 an ounce. The dollar was buying 72.19 US cents.

 

 

Trading: had my eyes on PUR, but it opened way above my safety net. Dipped toes in WBT and ASL to see if the storm clouds abate this arvo. Volumes in general still seem pretty poor - damn those brokers and their endless holidays. That's our money they're squandering on over-priced beach houses and pool toys.