Half-time wrap:
The share market reversed most of yesterday's losses after bond yields resumed their retreat from multi-year heights and soft October retail sales figures soothed interest rate worries.
The ASX 200 bounced 38 points or 0.55%. Gold miners, property stocks and small caps were among the morning's best performers, supported by solid gains in banks and supermarkets. Energy was the only sector to sit out the rally, easing 0.6% after Brent crude dropped back below US$80 a barrel.
A 0.2% contraction in retail spending last month bolstered confidence that the RBA may not need to raise benchmark rates again to tame inflation. Consumer price data tomorrow looms as the next hurdle for a market desperate to see the end of the current hiking cycle.
US stocks stuttered overnight following four weeks of gains. The S&P 500 eased 0.2% as record Black Friday sales figures raised questions about whether the Federal Reserve has done enough to cool the economy.
Personal trading: Didn't have the talent/charting ability/timing to hold IMU overnight, but I was holding another of this morning's runners: AX8. Woo-hoo! Wanna know how well I traded it? Badly. That's how I traded it. Very badly. Snatched at a windfall profit and let others have all the fat. You're welcome. Don't talk to me.
