Half-time wrap:
Australian shares drifted lower for a second day following minor falls in Europe during a US market holiday.
The ASX 200 eased six points or 0.08% during a second morning of tight range trading. The benchmark was stuck in Neutral as slim gains in REITs, banks and energy producers were narrowly out-muscled by declines in supermarkets, healthcare providers and tech stocks.
The materials sector continued to wallow near eight-month lows despite positive signs this morning from commodity markets. Iron ore, copper, nickel, gold and crude all ticked higher in early Chinese trade.
Fast food chain Guzman Y Guzman arrived with a splash, rising 36.36% in its first hour as a listed company
Overnight, the pan-European Stoxx 600 dipped 0.17% after inflation edged up last month. Wall Street was closed for the Juneteenth holiday. Trade resumes tonight.
Personal trading: Scrappy week. Been real nickel and dime stuff for me, for the most part. Pip from CYP. Half-pips from RED and IXR (centre-point). Boring myself to tears. US holidays - grrrrr....
