Thanks Tweets - the poppy in your morning intro was a nice touch.
Half-time round-up: The local share market this morning slid to its lowest level this month in cautious trade ahead of the Anzac Day long weekend.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was down 14 points or 0.3% at 4893 as gains in gold, defensive stocks and IT failed to counter falls in resources, financials and health care.
CSL suffered its worst fall in 16 months after its larger U.S. rival, Baxter International, slashed its earnings forecast. CSL shares were recently down more than 7% after shares in Baxter fell the most in seven years last night after the company said U.S. health-care legislation will undermine earlier profit projections.
Shares in Woodside Petroleum dropped more than 1% after the company reported a 7% fall in production in the first quarter. Woodside said the dip in production was partly due to natural declines and partly due to a 46-day maintenance outage at its Stybarrow field.
CSR shares rallied 9% after the Federal Court granted the company the right to appeal a judgement blocking its demerger plans. The planned demerger can now be put to a meeting of shareholders.
Asian markets were mixed. Japan's Nikkei retreated 0.31% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.68% but Shanghai was ahead 0.12%. Dow futures were recently at +1.
Crude oil futures flatlined this morning, recently trading 4 cents stronger at $83.77 a barrel. The spot gold price was $1 softer at $1,140 an ounce.
A solid morning here but would have been much better if I wasn't so quick to take profits. Another reminder that trading is basically a private war with your character flaws. Skimmed some coin off the bounces in CSL and JAL. Took profits in BAU but may regret it.
