Sliding resource stocks dragged the Australian share market lower for a second day as regional markets continued yesterday's decline.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was off 8 points or 0.2% at 4889 after an initial bounce faded. Resource stocks were again hit hardest, with energy stocks down 1.2%, metals & mining 0.9% and gold 1% after US investment bank Goldman Sachs advised clients to take profits on commodities overnight, including oil and copper. Industrials, property trusts, banks and health stocks topped the rising sectors.
"The market's taking a little bit of a breather," the chief market analyst at City Index told Fairfax. "We've had a few strong weeks of gains. Commodity prices are moderating."
US futures were cautiously positive despite further falls on Asian markets. Dow futures were recently at +31. Japan's Nikkei eased 0.11% in morning trade, Shanghai 0.45% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.32%.
In economic news, consumer confidence staged a cautious recovery this month. The WBC-MI index of consumer sentiment improved 1.2% to 105.3 but remained 9.3% softer than the time last year.
Crude oil futures recouped 27 cents this morning at $106.30 a barrel. Spot gold was $1.10 stronger at $1,455.10 an ounce. The dollar was buying US $1.0451.
Gotta love that first hour's trade - a weak start to get set and then a sharp recovery. Pity it ran out of legs. I caught BBG, GRY and WEC near the lows and sold as the morning progressed. Had a second dabble in WEC near the morning low on pullback and locked in another profit. Looks like a rinse-and-repeat, so just got back in for the 3rd time. Be great if all mornings were this straight-forward.
