Afternoon trading March 29

Thanks Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

A strong quarter for the Australian share market looked set to end with a fourth straight daily advance following reports of progress in US-China trade talks.

The ASX 200 rallied 18 points or 0.3 per cent this morning to 6194, reversing a sharp drop at the start of the week and positioning the index for a quarterly return of more than eight per cent. Shares have rebounded strongly since Christmas amid growing optimism that the US and China will hash out an agreement to end a damaging trade war. Those hopes received a boost overnight from a Reuters report that China returned to negotiations yesterday with a series of concessions on a range of contentious issues. That helped lift the S&P 500 in the US 0.36 per cent overnight.

Aussie shares bolted out of the gate and held most of their gains through to the middle of the session. Growth sectors, including I.T., were back in favour. Tech stocks spearheaded the rally with a rise of 0.7 per cent as Technology One gained 1.8 per cent, Afterpay 1.8 per cent and Altium 1.5 per cent.

Resource stocks were also strong. Syrah Resources jumped 3.5 per cent after upgrading its graphite resource estimate for its Balama operation in Mozambique. Market heavyweight BHP edged up 0.8 per cent to a fresh eight-and-a-half-year peak amid analyst predictions that iron ore prices will remain elevated after Brazilian miner Vale slashed its production estimates by 20 per cent overnight following a deadly dam collapse at its Brumadinho operation. Rio Tinto fared even better, advancing 1.7 per cent to a level last seen in the dark days of the GFC.

Gold's worst session since August dragged local miners into the red. Gold for delivery next month slumped $US20.60 or 1.6 per cent overnight to US$1,289.80 an ounce amid heavy selling as the US dollar appreciated. That dragged the local gold sector down 2.4 per cent this morning. Saracen Mineral shed 3.9 per cent, Evolution Mining 3.6 per cent and Resolute Mining 3.2 per cent.

Energy stocks softened as crude drifted deeper below US$60 a barrel following a demand by US President Donald Trump that OPEC raise production to dampen rising prices. Woodside eased 0.3 per cent and Santos 0.4 per cent. Crude oil futures staged a partial rebound this morning to $US59.57 a barrel after settling overnight at $US59.30 a barrel.

Asian markets moved higher this morning as US stock futures hinted at further gains tonight. China's Shanghai Composite put on 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.2 percent and Japan's Nikkei 0.6 per cent. S&P 500 futures wererecently ahead 5.5 points or 0.2 per cent.

On currency markets the dollar was buying 70.82 US cents.

Looking ahead to tonight, Brexit continues to dominate headlines, with British Prime Minister Theresa May reportedly intending to push for a vote on a truncated version of her exit deal from the European Union that includes the Withdrawal Agreement but not the accompanying Political Declaration. Wall Street has a slew of data slated for release tonight, including home sales, consumer sentiment and personal income and spending.

Trading: all about AGY for me so far today. Which is another way of saying I haven't made any money. At least, not yet. Obviously wondering how much ammo this heavy seller has left to cash in the volume event and renounceable rights issue.