Afternoon trading Sep 12

Thanks Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

Shares roared towards their strongest two-day advance since July, led for a second day by the big banks as a report showed business conditions at a nine-year high.

The ASX 200 extended yesterday's 40-point rally with a rise of 50 points or 0.9% this morning to 5763 after Wall Street notched a record close overnight. The financial sector led the way with a jump of 1.6% after NAB's monthly survey showed Australian businesses rated trading conditions this month as the strongest since before the GFC began to unfold in 2008. The more volatile confidence measure deteriorated from a reading of seven points to five points.

Also strong this morning were metals & mining, up 1.3%, materials +1.3% and health +0.4%. The gold sector took a knock as demand for havens ebbed, falling 1.9%.

Asian markets were mixed after yesterday pricing in most of the overnight gains in Europe and the US. China's Shanghai Composite edged up 0.11%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 0.12% and Japan's Nikkei added 0.99%. Dow futures were recently up 11 points or 0.05%.

Gold futures declined $6.10 or 0.46% this morning to US$1,329.60 an ounce. Crude oil futures drifted two cents or 0.04% lower to US$48.05 a barrel. The dollar was buying 80.06 US cents.


Nice rebound in the index over the last two sessions, but only another 25 points or so until it hits resistance. Been groundhog day for much of the year here. I'm not complaining - spec end is throwing up plenty of trades. I swung and missed at loads this morning, but only connected once - COB for a day's wage.