Afternoon trading July 2

Thanks Oscar and morning crew. Well done, Rockstar.


Half-time round-up:

The ASX got the new financial year off to a cautiously positive start as slim gains in the US on Friday outweighed minor falls across Asia this morning.

The ASX 200 pushed up 10 points or 0.2% to 6204, led by health stocks +0.7%, industrials +0.6% and telecoms +0.6%. The heavyweight materials sector added 0.1%, while the financial sector traded flat. Gold stocks and consumer staples lost 0.4%.

US stocks closed higher but well off their session peaks on Friday as investors remained wary of a trade war.The Dow rose as much as 293 points before ending the day just 55 points or 0.23% ahead. The S&P 500 added 0.08%. S&P 500 futures were recently ahead 2.65 points or 0.1%.

In Asia, China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.92% and Japan's Nikkei 0.15%. Trade on Hong Kong's Hang Seng was suspended for a public holiday.

Crude oil futures retreated 95 cents or 1.28% this morning to US$73.21 a barrel. Gold futures shed $2.20 or 0.18% to US$1,252.30 an ounce. The dollar was buying 73.86 US cents.



Trading: took SIG too early to make more than peanuts - patience is a virtue in these bloodbaths. The golden rule when things are bad is to wait until they get worse. Then wait a bit longer. Only then consider a buy. Fared better on 88E, taking it at 1.9c.