Afternoon trading July 22

Thanks @shovel40, @Fiji1, @uncleBuck, @JohnI and morning crew.

Half-time wrap:

Aussie stocks edged higher after Wall Street hit new heights and the RBA signalled future rate cuts ahead despite this month's unexpected decision to leave benchmark rates unchanged.

The ASX 200 firmed three points or 0.03% by mid-session. A weak session for the big banks was counter-balanced by gains in miners, healthcare providers and utilities.

The minutes from this month's RBA rate-setting meeting showed a majority of board members believed it was "prudent to wait for confirmation that inflation would sustainably return to target as forecast before easing policy further". The board opted to leave the cash rate target unchanged at 3.85%.

However, the board anticipated further rate cuts ahead: "All members agreed that, based on the information currently available, the outlook was for underlying inflation to decline further in year-ended terms, warranting some additional reduction in interest rates over time. The focus at this meeting was on the appropriate timing and extent of further easing, against the backdrop of heightened uncertainty."

Overnight, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed at records despite an afternoon fade. The S&P 500 crept up 0.14%.


Personal trading: Been on a good run lately (isn't everyone?), but nothing much has come off this morning. Took ATH, FXG, EGR, LOC and EMD on retrace.