Afternoon trading October 31

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

Half-time wrap:

Rebounds in some of the share market's worst-performing sectors helped the ASX follow Wall Street higher, with gains kept in check by rising bond yields and soft Chinese factory data.

The ASX 200 bounced 14 points or 0.21% off yesterday's one-year closing low. The battered REIT and consumer staples sectors led the recovery, both gaining more than 1%. Banks, retailers and industrials also featured near the top of the sector gains.

The rally was hamstrung by a rise in the 10-year government bond yield towards 5% ahead of next week's RBA interest rate decision. The 10-year yield this morning reached 4.978% for the first time since 2011.

Also capping gains: an unexpected contraction in Chinese factory activity. The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index dropped to 49.5 this month from 50.2 in September. Readings below 50 indicate shrinking activity.

Wall Street rebounded strongly overnight at the start of a heavy schedule of corporate earnings, economic data and central bank rates decisions. The Dow surged 1.58% to its biggest gain since June. The S&P 500 gained 1.2%.


Personal trading: Clipped tickets in WC8 and BEZ off the lows. Back into WC8 at 69.