Thanks @shovel40, @Fiji1 and morning crew.
Half-time wrap:
The share market paced falls on Asian markets ahead of an RBA interest rate announcement and the resumption of US trade tonight.
The ASX 200 dropped 41 points or 0.56% as the heavily-weighted materials sector reversed much of yesterday's rally. Fortescue Metals, South32 and Newcrest were among the major drags. Qantas slipped 0.27% after announcing CEO Alan Joyce will leave two months early.
Asian markets retreated ahead of the resumption of trade on Wall Street tonight after the US Labor Day long weekend. The Hang Seng index shed 1.48% in Hong Kong. The Asia Dow gave up 0.75%.
Back home, consumer confidence edged up 0.6 points last week to itsstrongest in 18 weeks following reports of a decline in inflation across July. However,at 78.7, the index remained a long way below the 100-point level above which optimistsoutweigh pessimists.
A measure of services sector activity declined for asecond straight month. Judo Bank's Australia Services PMI Business Activity Indexdropped to 47.8 from 47.9 in July.
The Reserve Bank met this morning and will announce the new cash rate target at 2.30 pm AEST.
Personal trading: Positive morning trading some of the swings. SFR offered a nice intraday profit off the lows. Also scraped some peanuts from the shallow bounce in FRB.
