Day Trading Pre Open - 25 January 2018

Good Morning Fellow Traders,

The share market gained ground as demand for energy, healthcare and some financial stocks offset the impact of weaker commodity prices on miners.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index gained 0.3 per cent to 6,054.7 points, with most sectors in positive territory.
Macquarie Private Wealth division director Martin Lakos said several factors contributed to a solid run.

"The ongoing synchronised upswing in international markets, a better-than-anticipated reporting season out of the US, as well as a strong quarterly report at Santos ... broadly speaking it's a solid day," he said.
In Australia, the pre-reporting season, or "confession season", has been very benign, Mr Lakos said, with more profit upgrades than downgrades so far.
"And that potentially is a driver for the market to go higher down the track,"

Only the materials sector faltered, on weaker base metals, copper and iron ore prices, with Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals all 0.4 per cent lower.

Santos added 1.2 per cent to $5.24 after reporting a 20 per cent bump in annual revenue, while Oil Search gained 2.7 per cent to $7.90 and Woodside Petroleum was 1.3 per cent stronger at $33.90.

Healthcare stocks were led by giants CSL, Resmed and Cochlear, with the latter the strongest performer, adding 3.5 per cent to $171.

The big four banks were mixed, with Westpac up 0.4 per cent, ANZ and National Australia Bank about 0.2 per cent higher, while Commonwealth Bank dropped 0.8 per cent.

QBE Insurance regained ground from Tuesday's fall, which followed its forecast of an annual loss of US1.2 billion, adding 5.4 per cent to $10.99

Infant formula supplier Wattle Health rose 4.8 per cent to $1.975 after its second-quarter sales soared and the company said further growth is in the post, following new distribution licenses and agreements in Australia and China.

The Australian dollar edged higher to again break through 80 US cents.

ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 was up 17.7 points, or 0.29 per cent, at 6,054.7 points
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 18.1 points, or 0.29 per cent, at 6,168.8 points
* The SPI200 futures contract was up 13 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 5,999 points
* National turnover was 3.9 billion securities traded worth $5.9 billion.

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1700 AEDT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 80.17 US cents, from 79.90 US cents on Tuesday
* 88.13 Japanese yen, from 88.56 yen
* 65.03 euro cents, from 65.18 euro cents
* 57.13 British pence, from 57.15 pence
* 108.83 NZ cents, from 109.02 NZ cents

GOLD:
The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEDT was $US1,341.99 per fine ounce, from $US1,335.57 per fine ounce on Tuesday.

BOND SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEDT:
* CGS 4.50 per cent April 2020, 2.0796pct, from 2.083pct on Tuesday
* CGS 4.75pct April 2027, 2.7827pct, from 2.7855pct
Sydney Futures Exchange prices:
* March 2018 10-year bond futures contract at 97.17 (implying a yield of 2.83pct), from 97.165 (2.835pct) on Tuesday
* March 2018 3-year bond futures contract at 97.74 (2.26pct), from 97.735 (2.265pct).
(*Bond market closes taken at 1630 AEDT previous local session; currency closes taken from 1700 AEDT previous local session)

Both the Dow and S&P 500 edged higher on Wednesday while the Nasdaq lost ground in choppy trading in the wake of comments by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross which hinted at action against China in a trade war.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ross said U.S. trade authorities were investigating whether there is a case for taking action over China’s infringements of intellectual property.

That was enough to erase early gains and send the S&P down as much as 0.5 percent after equities were initially lifted by another round of solid earnings and a drop in the dollar, which supports large multinational companies.

The Dow and S&P were able to claw back to the upside as investors chose to wait for concrete action.

“It’s a lot of bloviating that really doesn’t matter to anyone,” said Stephen Massocca, Senior Vice President at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco.
“It’s only natural for markets from a technical perspective to rest after they have had this type of move, or even decline a little bit, that is just a valuation trade.”

The dollar .DXY fell 1.01 percent against a basket of currencies after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin welcomed the currency’s weakness.
Worries about a protectionist stance have added to the dollar’s woes after U.S. President Donald Trump slapped steep tariffs on imported washing machines and solar panels on Monday.

Bank stocks were among the gainers, tracking a rise in U.S. Treasury yields following the dip in dollar. JPMorgan (JPM.N) and Goldman Sachs (GS.N) rose more than 1 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 63.55 points, or 0.24 percent, to 26,274.36, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 3.17 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,842.3 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXICdropped 24.34 points, or 0.33 percent, to 7,435.95.

Earnings season continues to come in strong, with S&P 500 growth expected at 12.4 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data through Wednesday morning. Of the 88 companies in the index that have posted results, 78.4 percent have topped expectations versus the 72 percent beat rate for the past four quarters.

Among those posting results, General Electric (GE.N) fell 2.34 percent after the company revealed a regulatory investigation of a multibillion-dollar insurance charge.
The company in its earnings report forecast further weakening of its troubled power business and reported a $10 billion loss and a 5-percent fall in revenue.

Abbott Laboratories (ABT.N) jumped 4.37 percent after quarterly profit and 2018 adjusted earnings forecast beat estimates.

Semiconductor stocks .SOX were off 2.07 percent and pulled the Nasdaq lower as Texas Instruments (TXN.O) slumped 8.03 percent after it posted the slowest revenue growth in four quarters on softer demand for its chips used in communications equipment.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.21-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.68-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 141 new 52-week highs and one new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 183 new highs and 12 new lows.

Source: Netwealth Morning Business Roundup

Australia Day brekkie. I bags a couple of the mushies. You carnivores can have the snags. Just leave one for Dooley.



Special shout out to @mirren for her valuable contribution in the Aftermarket Market thread.last night and the whole forum in general.

Last trading day of the week so beware the rush to the gate. Have a bonza long weekend!!

Happy trading, play nicely and make informed decisions.