Afternoon trading March 28

Thanks Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

Aussie shares drifted sideways today as the Brexit deadlock deepened in the UK and US bond markets flashed recession signals.

The ASX 200 overcame early falls to trade unchanged at 6136 mid-session as falls in yield stocks outweighed slender gains in miners and industrials. The mood on global markets remained fragile as the yield on the US ten-year treasury touched its weakest level in 15 months overnight, signalling a flight from risk assets such as stocks into safer stores of wealth. Last week the yield on near-term rates climbed above the 10-year rate, a traditional indicator that investors are concerned about the near-term outlook for the economy.

US stock futures slumped this morning after the UK parliament failed to find a path out of the Brexit impasse. British MPs voted on eight different proposals but none secured the majority needed to progress. Lawmakers intend to trim the list of options and try again on Monday. S&P 500 futures in the US responded with a decline of 13 points or 0.5 per cent.

Overnight, US stocks pared sharp initial losses to finish off their lows The S&P 500 closed 0.46 per cent in the red and the Nasdaq 0.63 per cent.

The local market followed a similar path, dropping as much as 21 points in the first two hours before mounting a recovery. Pilbara Mining was the best of the major miners, rising 3.2 per cent after declaring commercial production at its Pilgangoora lithium-tantalum mine in Western Australia. South32 rose 1.8 per cent., Rio Tinto 1 per cent and BHP 0.5 per cent to a four-week peak.

The banks were the biggest drag on the index, CBA shedding 0.5 per cent, WBC 0.7 per cent, NAB 0.2 per cent and ANZ 0.7 per cent. Eclipx Group resumed its downtrend after yesterday's bounce, falling 3.2 per cent. Coles Group dropped 2.1 per cent, giving back the last of Tuesday's gains following an announcement it will partner with UK firm Ocado on automated warehouses for its home delivery service.

Investors welcomed Sanjay Dayal as the new CEO and Managing Director at packaging powerhouse Pact Group, boosting the share price 2.2 per cent.

Asian markets took their cue from those gloomy US stock futures. China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.7 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.4 percent and Japan's Nikkei 1.7 per cent.

Oil retreated overnight on news US stockpiles ticked higher for the first time in three weeks. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were lately down another 29 cents or 0.5 per cent this morning to $US59.12 a barrel. Gold futures eased $2.20 or 0.2 per cent to $US1,314.70 an ounce. The dollar was buying 70.82 US cents.

Looking ahead to potential market-movers over the next 24 hours, overseas markets have to digest the latest Brexit stalemate in the UK. Wall Street will gain another insight into the US economy with the release of fourth-quarter GDP figures tonight. And a light week for domestic data concludes here tomorrow with the release of private-sector credit data.

Trading: took on a string of slow-burners this morning. Took their time to come good, but eventually eased out of VTG with a skinny profit. Likewise EN1. LCK lately came right for the hat-trick.