Thanks @Bowser. and morning crew.Half-time round-up:Aussie...

Thanks @Bowser. and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

Aussie stocks retreated from Friday's three-week closing high as trade tariffs and a US market holiday subdued buying interest.

The ASX 200 followed most regional markets lower this morning, easing 40 points or 0.6 per cent to 6564. A fresh round of trade tariffs came into effect yesterday in China and the US, impacting $US197 billion worth of goods in both countries.

The local market lacked strong leads at the start of a new trading week after Wall Street closed little changed on Friday. The S&P 500 edged up two points or 0.06 per cent ahead of the Labor Day long weekend.

Here, early gains in utilities and mining and health stocks were largely offset by weakness in energy, Telstra and the Woolworths. Infigen Energy advanced 4.2 per cent to an 11-month high. AGL and Spark Infrastructure both put on 0.4 per cent.

Friday's 5.4 per cent rebound in the price of iron ore helped lift BHP 0.4 per cent and Rio Tinto 1.6 per cent. Fortescue slipped 13 cents or 1.6 per cent as it traded without its 24 cent dividend.

CSL inched to a record before falling away. The health giant hit an all-time high this morning at $241.63 and was lately down $2 or 0.8 per cent at $238.86.

Oil stocks were depressed by news that cracks had appeared in an OPEC agreement.to cap global production. Brent crude declined 1.1 per cent on Friday and slipped another 36 cents or 0.6 per cent this morning to $US58.89 a barrel after Russia admitted it would exceed last month's production limit. Here, Viva Energy retreated 3.3 per cent, Origin 1.8 per cent and Woodside 1.2 per cent.

Telstra fell 1.8 per cent after amending its earnings guidance to reflect changes in plans at NBN Co. Telstra said it now expects income to be $400 million lower this financial year, but underlying earnings before interest and tax should rise by $100 million. Woolworths declined 1.5 per cent as profit-takers took advantage of Friday's five-year closing high.

A morning of broadly positive economic news raised questions about the outlook for further rate cuts. Housing data suggested the real estate market was gaining momentum after prices in Sydney and Melbourne increased by 1.5 per cent and 1.3 per cent, respectively, last month. A separate report showed companies increased profits more than expected last quarter. The ABS report showed operating profits increased 4.5 per cent over the three months to June 30, more than twice the growth anticipated by economists.

A private measure of Chinese factory activity also surprised to the upside. The Caixin manufacturing PMI turned positive for the first time in three months, rising to 50.4 from a July reading of 49.9. The result conflicted with a sharp contraction in the official government reading released on Saturday.

What's hot today and what's not:

Hot today: St George Mining picked the right day to announce positive results from drilling at its flagship Mount Alexander project at the north-eastern goldfields district in WA. Shares in the mining junior jumped 2.5 cents or 18 per cent to 16.5 cents after the company announced it had intercepted massive nickel-copper sulphides at shallow depth int its first hole at its Radar Prospect. The price of nickel jumped 8.8 per cent on Friday, the metal's biggest gain in ten years. St George's mining partner, Western Areas Limited, put on 8.7 per cent.

Not today: shares in Incitec Pivot hit a three-year low before staging a partial recovery after the industrial chemicals and fertiliser manufacturer downgraded its earnings forecast. The company cut its guidance for earnings before interest and tax from a range of $370 million to $415 million down to $285 million to $295 million. The company blamed below-forecast ammonia production, high gas costs and weak fertiliser sales due to the drought. Shares bottomed at $2.74 before bouncing to $3.09, a loss of 12.5 cents or 3.9 per cent.

China's Shanghai Composite bucked the downbeat mood on Asian markets with a rise of 0.9 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gave up 0.5 percent and Japan's Nikkei 0.2 per cent.

Turning to commodity markets, gold futures bounced $2.70 or 0.2 per cent to $US1,532.10 an ounce.

On currency markets, the dollar was buying 67.28 US cents.

Trading: patience in SDA finally paid off. Nice payday for anyone who bought when sentiment was at its worst. Also got a couple of pips out of the rebound in MEI.