Thanks Oscar and morning crew.Half-time round-up:The ASX...

Thanks Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

The ASX overcame headwinds including negative US equity futures, regional markets and crude oil to reverse early losses this morning. 

The ASX 200 reached midway just two points or less than 0.1% weaker at 5847 after earlier falling as low as 5818. Trade was cautious ahead of a week of potentially market-moving political events. China President Xi Jinping is due to deliver a speech later today at the start of a Chinese trade expo and Americans go to the polls tomorrow to vote in mid-term elections seen as a litmus test for the Trump presidency. Also tomorrow, the Reserve Bank here and the US Federal Reserve commence rates policy meetings.

The best returns this morning came in the financial sector +0.8%, consumer staples +0.6% and utilities +0.1%. Curbing gains were a 1.2% decline in health stocks and losses of 0.8% in consumer discretionary and 1% in gold. The energy sector shed 0.8% as US crude oil futures dropped 55 cents or 0.87% to US$62.59 a barrel.

S&P 500 futures were recently off 10.5 points or 0.3%. China's Shanghai Composite shed 0.69%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 2.09% andJapan's Nikkei 1.41%.

Gold futures edged up 80 cents or 0.06%to US$1,234.10 an ounce. The dollar was buying 71.85 US cents.

Trading: I tend to make my most expensive mistakes on Mondays due to over-eagerness, therefore I've been extra-cautious today. Result: no trades. Not sure that's a long-term solution...