Thanks Oscar and morning crew.
Half-time round-up:
The share market gave up most of its gains for the week after Wall Street fell for a fourth night.
The ASX 200 retreated 50 points or 0.8% to 6214, slashing its weekly gain to just 21 points or 0.3%. The local market had resisted three days of decline on Wall Street but succumbed today after a downbeat outlook and surprise policy pivot from the European Central Bank fuelled fears that the global economy is slowing faster than economists anticipated.
Overnight, the ECB slashed its economic forecasts and announced a range of measures to support growth in the Eurozone. Bank President Mario Draghi declared we are in "a period of continued weakness and pervasive uncertainty". Investors did not like the sound of that one bit and began selling. All of Europe's major stock indices closed lower and the sour mood extended into the US trading session, where the S&P 500 fell 0.81% to a fourth straight loss.
The local market had been well supported this week as a run of weak domestic economic figures raised hopes that the Reserve Bank will cut its key rate before the end of the year. However, last night's overseas falls were too large to ignore. The big banks led the sell-off, all dropping at least 1% as the financial sector declined 1.6%. The other pillar of the local market, the materials sector, lost 0.9%. The defensive gold sector played its traditional role as a haven in times of worry, rising 0.7%.
The biggest losers on the index included two companies handed eviction notices this morning by index-maker S&P Dow Jones Indices. Infigen Energy and Automotive Holdings were told in an announcement they are to be dropped from the ASX 200 in a quarterly reshuffle later this month to make way for financial services firms Pinnacle Investment Management Group and HUB24. Portfolio managers responded by sending Infigen down 7.5% and Automotive Holdings 4.4%. HUB24 rallied 3% while Pinnacle dipped 1.9%. The best performers on the index were Estia Health, up 2%, and Afterpay, up 1.7%.
At the speculative end of the market, Northern Mining climbed for a fifth day. The rare earths miner, which on Wednesday announced a maiden resource for its Dazzler deposit in WA, surged 29% this morning to a three-month high.
Asian markets saw heavy selling. China's Shanghai Composite slumped 2.53%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 1.64% andJapan's Nikkei 1.5%. S&P 500 futures were recently off 3.25 points or 0.1%.
Crude oil futures faded 25 cents or 0.4% this morning to $US56.40 a barrel. Gold futures edged up 70 cents or 0.1% to $US1,286.80 an ounce. The dollar was buying 70.13 US cents.
Looking ahead to what is likely to move the market over the next 24 hours, China was due to release trade figures today that will be closely examined for the effects of the trade war with the US. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is due to deliver a speech tonight about monetary policy. And Wall Street is waiting for the monthly jobs update, as well as some housing figures.
Trading: didn't find a lot to catch the eye this morning. Just one trade: a quickie in SMR off the low.
