Thanks Oscar and morning warriors. Tough trading conditions. Careful out there.
Half-time round-up:
The ASX 200 slumped below 5600 for the first time in 21 months after oil and US equities plunged ahead of tomorrow's Thanksgiving market holiday.
The benchmark index hit 5594, its lowest level since February last year, before paring its loss to 40 points or 0.7% mid-session at 5632. The energy sector led the rout, dropping 2.6% to an eight-month trough after US crude shed 7% overnight. A retreat from so-called "risk assets" saw metals & mining down 2.5%, I.T. 2.3% and the Small Ords 1.5%. The defensive health sector rose 1.7% and consumer staples 0.25%.
US stocks fell hard for a second night, with traders reluctant to hold over tomorrow's Thanksgiving US holiday and Friday's thinly-traded half-session. The S&P 500 coughed up 1.82%
"The global equity rout continued last night, and out to the furthest horizons it was a sea of red," Kyle Rodda of IG Markets told Fairfax. "There was very little reprieve no matter where one spun the globe... The themes aren't wildly different from before, it's just now the story is being read (and bought-into) by a growing mass of traders: global growth is late-cycle, earnings have peaked, and tighter financial conditions means there's no hiding from the risks."
US futures improved over the morning. S&P 500 futures were recently ahead 6.25 points or 0.24%. China's Shanghai Composite lost 0.37%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.91% andJapan's Nikkei 0.73%.
Crude oil futures bounced 78 cents or 1.46% this morning to US$54.21 a barrel. Gold futures inched up 30 cents or 0.02%to US$1,221.50 an ounce. The dollar was buying 72.23 US cents.
Trading: challenging times. No easy money this morning. I've been busy, but need an arvo recovery in AUZ before the day can be called a success. Profits taken in MMJ, EHLDA and AGY. Caught the low in AKM, but didn't get enough to matter.
