Thanks Oscar and morning crew.
Half-time round-up:
A sharp decline in US futures kept a lid on an attempted rebound on the the ASX following a week of heavy losses.
The local market passed the halfway mark on track to break a five-session losing run but well short of overnight gains on Wall Street. The ASX 200 edged up five points or 0.1% to 5669, a fraction of the 1.86% recovery achieved by the S&P 500 overnight. A close around these levels would leave the index more than 250 points lower for the week.
Risk appetite was capped by a deterioration in US futures after Google's parent company Alphabet's post-market earnings update missed revenue expectations. S&P 500 futures were recently down 16 points or 0.6%. Nasdaq futures - where Alphabet carries a greater weighting - were off 0.83%.
Gains in I.T. stocks +0.7%, financials +0.4% and materials +0.2% were largely offset by falls in gold stocks -3.2%, utilities -1.1% and energy -0.7%.
The ASX 2200 peaked at 6373 in late August and has since declined in three downlegs punctuated by tepid recoveries that ultimately failed.
"There's the impression in markets currently that this variety of volatility may stay the norm for a while: days of radical losses, followed by rapid recoveries," Kyle Rodda of IG Markets told Fairfax. "The primary worry for index traders however, is that as it stands, the up days aren't as strong as the down days. That is: these markets are making lower lows and higher lows."
Asian markets proved reluctant to follow Wall Street. China's Shanghai Composite dipped 0.05% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.38%. Japan's Nikkei edged up 0.16%.
Crude oil futures retreated 56 cents or 0.83% this morning to US$66.77 a barrel. Gold futures improved $1.40 or 0.11%to US$1,233.80 an ounce. The dollar was buying 70.69 US cents.
Trading: not my sort of day. Had a feeling the opening would deliver highs in a lot of shares, not to mention the overall market. Too many reasons to sell ahead of the weekend. Made only one buy - SMX near the low. Watching BIT.
