Afternoon trading July 10

Thanks Bowser and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

The share market pared two days of losses as a declining dollar helped companies that earn most of their profits overseas.

The ASX 200 rallied 35 points or 0.5 per cent to 6701 mid-session, led by exporters, tech companies and the banks. Prior to this session, the index had lost 86 points or 1.2 per cent in two days.

This morning's rebound followed an overnight dive in the dollar, which assists exporters and makes local shares cheaper for holders of other currencies. The Aussie fell six-tenths of a cent overnight and this morning ticked down another tenth of a cent to 69.2 US cents.

The index's best performers were mostly companies whose earnings primarily come from overseas. Dairy exporter the A2 Milk Company jumped 5 per cent after a broker upgrade from UBS. The tech sector enjoyed a strong morning. Wisetech put on 5.2 per cent, Bravura Solutions 3.5 per cent and Altium 2.4 per cent. Asset manager Janus Henderson was another standout, rising 3.1 per cent. The company offers investment management services in Europe, the US and Asia.

The gains in the banks were more measured, but their index weighting inflates their significance. CBA advanced 1 per cent, ANZ 0.1 per cent, NAB 1.6 per cent and Westpac 0.5 percent.

The supermarkets also shone. Coles rallied 1 per cent to its highest point since it was spun out of Wesfarmers last November. Rival Woolworths rose 0.9 per cent to a seven-week peak.

A 4.1 per cent bump in the price of iron ore yesterday did little for miners amid speculation that the price has run too far, too fast. BHP shed 0.2 per cent, Rio Tinto 0.5 per cent and Fortescue 0.3 per cent.

What's hot today and what's not:

Hot today: investors in Dacian Gold have seen the value of their shares collapse from $2.80 in March to a low of 37.5 cents last month after the company revealed a production shortfall and cost blowout at its Mount Morgans mine in WA. This morning shares bounced 12 cents or 23.3 per cent to 65 cents after the company released a revised life-of-mine plan that promises pre-tax cashflow of more than $420 million over eight years if gold remains above $1,800 an ounce.

Not today: shares in medical device developer Polynovo tripled this year from below 60 cents in January to a high of $1.87 yesterday as the company gained a foothold for its biodegradable polymer technology in the lucrative US federal government supply chain. Yesterday's 14-year high prompted some shareholders to take profits this morning, sending the share price as low as $1.61 before a partial rebound to $1.68, a loss of 7.9 per cent.

In economic news, confidence in the outlook for the economy deteriorated last month, according to a Westpac report. The bank's consumer sentiment measure declined 4.1 per cent as the Reserve Bank cut its key borrowing rate to a record low to stimulate the economy.

Asian markets were mixed after China's monthly inflation report mostly met expectations. China's Shanghai Composite dipped 0.1 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.4 percent and Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.2 per cent. S&P 500 index futures were flat head of tonight's congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Turning to commodity markets, Brent crude futures were ahead 59 cents or 0.9 per cent at $US64.75 a barrel. Gold futures shed $4.90 or 0.4 per cent at $US1,395.60 an ounce.

Trading: scraped a pip from MEB. Added a few to the watchlist. Not nearly busy enough this week.