Afternoon trading November 21

Thanks @shovel40, @Fiji1, @Patterns and morning crew.

Half-time wrap:

Australian shares edged towards a second straight gain as gains in miners helped offset declines across the wider market.

The ASX 200 firmed 13 points or 0.2% to 7072. Copper's best session since July lit a spark under miners of the metal. Sandfire Resources gained 4.84%, Rio Tinto 2.42% and BHP 1.74%.

The tech sector sagged 0.8% despite a strong session for the Nasdaq overnight. The US tech benchmark gained 1.13% as Microsoft, Nvidia and Apple all rose.

The Australian tech sector was held back by falls in Life360, Megaport and Technology One. Elsewhere, Wesfarmers, Woolworths and CSL were the most significant heavyweight drags.

The minutes from this month's RBA meeting showed a deterioration in the inflation outlook pushed the board into raising benchmark rates. The central bank decided monetary policy had to be adjusted to reflect the increased risk that inflation would not return to target by the end of 2025.

"Members noted that underlying inflation in the September quarter had been higher than previously expected, inflationary pressures were evident across a broad range of consumer items, and inflation was most apparent in items for which inflation typically took longer to subside (such as services). Collectively, these observations implied that it would take some time for inflation to return to target," the minutes said.


Personal trading: Didn't feel spoiled for choice this morning. Market seems to be slowing ahead of Thanksgiving. Got something from PCL using centrepoint. Took TOY on retrace.