Day traders' after-market lounge January 4

Thanks afternoon crew.

Some house-keeping: I'll be away next week for a summer break. Looking for volunteers to launch three threads each day (pre-market, afternoon, after-market). Any takers? You don't have to do much, just turn up on time each session and post something, anything to get the thread started. In return you get... um... the undying respect and gratitude of your peers*?

*NB: Respect and gratitude not guaranteed.


End-of-day summary:

The share market took a second straight loss after profit-taking and rates uncertainty weighed on Wall Street overnight.

The ASX 200 eased 29 points or 0.39%. The biggest drags here included miners and supermarkets. Energy producers, industrial companies and utilities resisted the sell-off.

A year that began with a near-record on Tuesday has soured since US trade resumed. The Nasdaq has booked back-to-back losses of more than 1% at the start the year for only the third time in its history. Overnight, the tech-heavy index shed 1.18% as traders locked in gains in some of last year's best performers.

US futures were modestly positive at the Australian market close. S&P 500 futures were ahead almost 0.1%.