Shares took a breather after a down-night in the US gave local investors pause following two and a half weeks of steady gains.
The ASX 200 traded either side of break-even before reaching the halfway mark nine points or 0.2% ahead at 5903. Advances in gold stocks +1.7%, utilities +1% and metals & mining +0.6% were largely offset by declines in energy -0.5%, telecoms -0.4% and financials -0.2%.
The market lost momentum this week after a two-week tear that saw the benchmark index put on almost 250 points. Overnight, the S&P 500 shed 0.4% in the US.
"I remain bullish, but of the view that these markets are tired, fatigued and need new information to feed the beast," IG's Chris Weston told Fairfax. "So much cash has come off the sidelines."
Asian markets were subdued. China's Shanghai Composite edged up 0.07%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.24% and Japan's Nikkei gained 0.15%. Dow futures were recently up 23 points or 0.1%.
Crude oil futures eased two cents or 0.04% this morning to US$51.88 a barrel. Gold futures rose $1.40 or 0.12% to US$1,282.40 an ounce. The dollar was buying 78.15 US cents.
Trading: AQD paid the daily wage. Suffering serious regrets about holding APX overnight - got that one significantly wrong. Oh well, keeps me humble.
