Thanks Oscar and morning crew. Half-time round-up: Shares faded...

Thanks Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

Shares faded towards a second straight loss as declines in crude oil and key regional markets weighed on buyer sentiment.

The ASX 200 shed 34 points or 0.6% to 6207 by the halfway mark of the session as traders dumped energy stocks -2.1%, metals & mining -1.3% and utilities -1.4%. The financial and industrials sectors were the pick of a bad bunch, both down 0.1%.

The energy sector plumbed a three-week low after US crude slumped more than 4% overnight back under US$70 a barrel. Traders blamed a combination of factors, including talk of the US releasing reserves and a downgraded economic outlook from the International Monetary Fund. Crude oil futures had lately rebounded three cents or 0.04% to US$68.09 a barrel.

Asian markets traded mixed, with Chinese stocks under pressure for a second day after yesterday's downbeat factory data. The Shanghai Composite lost 1.12% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 1.11%. Japan's Nikkei added 0.56%. S&P 500 futures were recently down 0.25 points or 0.01%.

Gold futures put on 80 cents or 0.06% to US$1,240.50 an ounce. The dollar was buying 74.11 US cents.



Trading: nope, not really. Watched ADT but failed to pull the trigger. Wriggled out of AX1 from yesterday with a slim profit. I rely heavily on price alerts for my trading. The last alert to go off was at 10.35. Pass the mogadon.