Afternoon trading July 31

Thanks @shovel40, @Fiji1 and morning crew.

Half-time wrap:

Aussie shares struggled to retain early gains following further signs of weakening Chinese economic momentum.

The ASX 200 trimmed a 31-point opening rally to three points or 0.04% at the halfway mark. Gains in resource, property and industrial stocks narrowly outweighed declines in supermarkets, banks and utilities.

The market was already shedding gains when China reported factory activity contracted for a fourth month, while expansion in the services sector was the slowest in six months. The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose from 49 to 49.3 this month but remained below the 50-point level that separates expansion from contraction. The services PMI eased to 51.5 from 53.2 in May. The composite PMI fell to 51.1 from 52.3.

A separate report showed year-on-year private credit growth in Australia was the slowest in 20 months at +5.5% in June as rate rises sapped demand.

Personal trading: Mixed morning. Pip from W2V. Took CVV near the CR price. Took SLR waaaaaay too early - the kind of stupid mistake I'm inclined to make on Mondays when I'm raring to go and lunge at opportunities before they're ripe.