Day traders' after-market lounge October 9

Thanks afternoon crew. Some pretty damaging moves today for near-term risk appetite. A few investors will get a nasty shock when they look at their holdings tonight.


End-of-day summary:

Strong gains in gold and oil helped Australia's resources-heavy share market look past warning signs for tonight's Wall Street trade as the death toll in Israel and Gaza climbed.

The ASX 200 firmed 14 points or 0.2% to 6968. Today's advance was the index's third in a row, its best run in five weeks.

Resources did the heavy lifting as seven of eleven sectors declined. Newcrest, Santos and Woodside Energy were the pick of the heavyweights as hostilities in the Middle East boosted gold and crude prices. Gold futures climbed 1% this afternoon. Brent crude rallied 3.4%.

US futures wilted amid fears a surge in energy prices could reignite inflation, pushing the Federal Reserve towards additional rate hikes. Reports that Iran helped Hamas plan its attack on Israel fuelled concerns that the conflict could widen. S&P 500 futures sank 0.75%.