Thanks Oscar and morning crew.
Half-time round-up:
The share market edged ahead for the first time in five sessions as US futures swung higher following last night's brutal Wall Street reversal.
The ASX 200 hit the halfway mark 10 points or 0.2% higher at 6206 on gains in gold stocks +1.6%, energy +1.6%, metals & mining +1.3% and financials +0.4%. Limiting the rally were declines in IT -1.2%, consumer discretionary -1.1% and industrials -0.8%.
Sentiment was helped by a rise in US futures as Asian markets struggled following a sharp mid-session slump in US stocks overnight. The S&P 500 rallied 0.9% in early action before reversing to a loss of 0.86%. This morning S&P 500 futures were ahead 6.5 points or 0.24%.
Key Asian markets traded both sides of break-even as investors awaited greater clarity on the outlook for global trade. China's Shanghai Composite was lately down 0.32%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 0.14% and Japan's Nikkei off 0.42%.
"I think markets and investors are still a little bit cautious, and that kind of wait and see, holding pattern [continues] here," Tuan Huynh, Asia Pacific CIO at Deutsche Bank Wealth Management, told
CNBC. "So maybe we are approaching close to the bottom here, but obviously we can't rule out that the markets can still continue to go further down."
Crude oil futures eased 18 cents or 0.25% this morning to US$72.58 a barrel. Gold futures dipped $1.40 or 0.11% to US$1,254.70 an ounce. The dollar was buying 73.57 US cents.
Glimmers of hope from the US? Let's hope last night's volatility marked an inflection point. Of course, it's impossible to predict when the market mood is dictated by tweets from the White House. Trading: often find myself fishing in dirty water far from where others here ply their trade. NNW moved the wrong way but provided good volume and brief recoveries for quick trades. Slipped in and out three times.
