Afternoon trading September 17

Thanks Grundlebundle and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

Shares rose for a second day despite headwinds from Asia and news of a Royal Commission into aged care.

The ASX 200 overcame an opening 23-point slump to reach mid-session ahead by 23 points or 0.4% at 6188. The health sector skidded 0.9% after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a Royal Commission into the provision of aged care following a string of recent scandals. The metals & mining sector dipped 0.1%. Offsetting those pressures were gains in utilities +1.2%, telecoms +0.9% and financials +0.7%.

Chinese and Hong Kong stocks declined following signals over the weekend that the US is intent on pressing ahead with another round of tariffs on Chinese imports. China's Shanghai Composite shed 0.74% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 1.6%. Trade on Japan's Nikkei was suspended for a bank holiday. S&P 500 futures were recently off 4.9 points or 0.17%.

Crude oil futures drifted four cents or 0.06% lower this morning to US$68.95 a barrel. Gold futures eased $2 or 0.17% to US$1,199.30 an ounce. The dollar was buying 71.53 US cents.


Strong performance by the local market, considering the state of Asian markets and US futures. The aged care issue appears to have provoked rotation out of health into other obvious defensives - utilities and telecoms. Trading: after watching how quickly AOG recovered from the aged care Royal Commission shock I piled into the others. JHC and REG bounced nicely but EHE has been a goddamned lead balloon. Should have taken the chance to exit for brokerage.