Market wrap: Australian stocks face a third day of losses after Wall Street ground lower during a night of weak economic news.
US stocks took their lead from disappointing factory data that pointed to a sluggish recovery and a worse-than-expected rise in the producer price index for finished goods (an important inflation indicator). The three major stock indexes deteriorated in afternoon trade to finish down 1.1 - 1.27%.
Gold miners offered a glimpse of green in a sea of red after gold futures rallied for the first day in three. Gold scratched out a rise of more than 0.5% to $935.20 as the US dollar wilted under the poor economic figures and talk of a new "world reserve currency" at the BRIC meeting.
Other US resources stocks were lower as oil and most base metals retreated. Crude hit a high of $72.77 early in the session but fell back to $70.48 on worries that global economic activity cannot support current prices. Copper finished 1.37% lower in choppy US trade. Aluminium was down 0.68%. Nickel eked out a slim gain.
Our market has been falling all week, and futures traders expect a third day in the red. The SPI was down 32 points at 3930.
There were hints of stabilisation in commodity prices last night after significant falls over the last few days, so a significantly weak open for local resources stocks may offer opportunities for the bold today. However, the short-term market trend in the US remains firmly down.
