Thanks @shovel40 and morning crew.
Half-time round-up:
A third straight positive quarter for Australian shares looked set to to end on a positive note ahead of tomorrow's RBA rate decision.
The ASX 200 kicked on to a mid-session gain of 17 points or 0.3 per cent at 6733 mid-session. The benchmark index has risen every quarter this year, although momentum has faltered since June as the US-China trade war intensified. A close tonight around these levels would deliver a quarterly return of more than 110 points or 1.5 per cent.
Today's session followed a losing end to the week on Wall Street after reports that the White House was considering blocking US investment into China. The S&P 500 fell 0.53 per cent to extend its loss for the week to 1 per cent.
A mixed market here saw gains in resource stocks partly offset by declines in the financial and tech sectors. The iron ore majors advanced after Chinese economic data came in slightly above expectations. The official China manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 49.8 this month, the strongest reading in five months, but still below the 50-point mark that separates expansion from contraction. A private gauge also surpassed predictions, rising to 51.4. Rio Tinto put on 2.5 per cent, BHP 1.1 per cent and Fortescue 0.2 per cent.
The energy sector was close behind, following a tentative uptick in crude. Caltex Australia rose 2.1 per cent, Woodside 1.8 per cent and Origin Energy 0.4 per cent. Brent crude futures inched up nine cents or 0.2 per cent this morning to $US62 a barrel.
The index leaders were a mixed bag, ranging from crop protection manufacturer Nufarm - up 28.9 per cent - to fruit and veg grower Costa Group - up 5.5 per cent - and media conglomerate Seven West, up 4.1 per cent.
The tech sector followed the Nasdaq lower. Appen and Altium gave up 2.1 per cent, Technology One 1.6 per cent and Afterpay 1.5 per cent.
The big banks were mixed amid speculation about their ability to sustain profits with interest rates at record lows and likely to go lower, perhaps as early as tomorrow. CBA shed 0.4 per cent and Westpac 0.1 per cent. ANZ added 0.2 per cent and NAB 0.1 per cent.What's hot today and what's not:
Hot today: it is not often you see a company's shares soar after it suspends its dividend and announces a nine per cent decline in underlying net profit. Nufarm managed to confound expectations this morning by also announcing the sale of its South American operations for a cool $1.2 billion. The sale to Japanese giant Sumitomo was welcomed by shareholders because it cleared most of the company's debt and deepened its commercial relationship with Sumitomo at a price that represented good value for shareholders.
Not today: shares in Amaysim have slumped to a record low following a disastrous year when the mobile network operator lost customers and reported declining revenues and a $6.5 million full-year loss. Shares which traded as high as 87 cents in July this morning hit 28.5 cents. The company began to run into trouble when it overpaid for Click Energy back in 2017. Its woes continued this year as it wrote down the value of the acquisition and revealed a 4.8 per cent drop in mobile subscribers.
US index futures advanced despite weakness on Asian markets. S&P 500 index futures put on 13 points or almost 0.5 per cent. China's Shanghai Composite eased 0.1 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was flat and Japan's Nikkei off 0.45 per cent.
Turning to commodity markets, gold futures sagged $6.70 or 0.4 per cent to $US1,499.70 an ounce.On currency markets, the dollar was buying 67.62 US cents.
Trading: tricky morning. Thought AYS would give an easy couple of bounce pips, but had to settle for a single. Took another dabble in KYK.
