Thanks Oscar and morning crew.
Half-time round-up:
A rebound in resource stocks fuelled an ASX rally after Wall Street broke a five-session losing streak overnight.
The ASX 200 advanced for the first time in three sessions, rising 24 points or 0.4% to 6203. Energy stocks led the recovery, bouncing 1.2% following yesterday's sharp retreat triggered by news that Norway's sovereign wealth fund plans to divest its holdings in oil companies. Support today came from the materials sector, up 1%, and metals & mining, up 0.9% as BHP put on 1.6% and Rio Tinto 1.7%. The heavyweight financial sector edged up a slim 0.1% as a 0.6% gain in CBA was tempered by a 0.8% fall in ANZ.
Yesterday's standout sector - gold mining - dropped 1.8% after solid US economic data overnight cruelled the precious metal's latest run at the $US1,300-an-ounce level. Stocks in the US saw their strongest session since January after retail sales topped expectations following a run of soft economic data. The S&P 500 bounced 1.47% and the Nasdaq 2.02% as tech stocks outperformed.
The morning's domestic economic figures continued the recent run of soft data from around the world. Business confidence and trading conditions both deteriorated last month, according to NAB's monthly update. NAB Chief Economist, Alan Oster said confidence and conditions fell in February to below average levels, with the retail industry a particular concern after five months of negative conditions.
Home loan lending was expected to be weak with the downturn in the housing market, but still surprised to the downside. The number of new loans issued slumped a seasonally-adjusted 2.4% in January, according to the ABS. The year-on-year decline was more than 20%, the worst decline since the global financial crisis in 2008.
Turning to companies, software provider Wisetech was the best performer on the ASX 200, rising 6.2%. The best returns elsewhere came from the financial sector, with banking group Cybg up 4.4%, asset managers IFL 3.9% and Janus Henderson 4.1%.
At the other end of the index, high-flying data company Appen slid 7.8% after announcing a placement to buy US-based rival Figure Eight. Shares in Appen had jumped more than 150% over the last year prior to yesterday's announcement.
The mood on Asian markets was boosted by strong US index futures. China's Shanghai Composite put on 0.94%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.93% and Japan's Nikkei 1.62%. S&P 500 futures were recentlyahead eight points or 0.3%.
Crude oil futures improved 21 cents or 0.4% this morning to $US57 a barrel. Gold futures edged up $3.90 or 0.3% to $US1,295 an ounce. The dollar was buying 70.7 US cents.
Looking to what's ahead over the next 24 hours, the British parliament votes tonight on Prime Minister Theresa May's revised Brexit plan. Depending on the outcome, further votes may follow this week. Inflation figures are tonight's big-ticket item in the US. Back home, the March consumer confidence index is tomorrow's main economic release.
Trading: watched SPT at the open but was too slow as it took off like a dragster. Waited for pullback opps and loaded up in AHZ, GLN and TYM. So far I'm having to exercise patience. You know how I feel about that...
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