Day traders' after-market lounge October 31

Thanks afternoon crew.

End-of-day summary:

The final session of a third straight losing month brought a modest up-tick for Australian shares following the Dow's best night since June.

The ASX 200 clung on to an advance of eight points or 0.12% for the day as gains in property stocks, supermarkets and banks outweighed declines in miners, utilities and tech stocks. Early gains were dented by soft Chinese factory data and a 12-year high in 10-year government bonds.

October continued the downward trend since late July as a flare-up in the Middle East added to familiar worries about inflation, rising bond yields, the strength of the global economy and the outlook for interest rates. The ASX 200 shed 268 points or around 3.8% across the month. The Australian benchmark has given up almost 8.5% since July 31.

Today's tentative rebound from 12-month lows followed a strong night on Wall Street. The Dow gained 1.58%. The S&P 500 added 1.2% a day after entering a technical correction. However, US futures retreated this afternoon as most Asian markets declined. S&P 500 futures eased 0.32% by the ASX close.