Australian shares sagged to a new 11-month low this morning despite rallies in US futures and most Asian markets.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was off 11 points or 0.3% at 4320 after earlier falling within 3 points of a 13-month low. A mixed morning saw the materials sector, industrials, health and consumer staples account for most of the gains, while financials, energy stocks, property trusts and small caps fell back.
"The last few days have been pretty dire, to say the least, and most people have been looking overseas for the cue," Burrell Stockbroking adviser Jamie Elgar told Fairfax. "It is positive that Wall Street snapped that eight-day losing streak. It was almost going back to GFC territory."
Japanese stocks led gains in Asia after the government intervened against the rising yen. The Nikkei advanced 0.9% in morning trade and Shanghai put on 0.31%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng recently turned negative, falling 0.14%. Dow futures advanced 35 points or 0.3% despite a sharp rise in the dollar index following the Japanese government's move.
The Australian dollar jumped around 1.3% against the yen and was lately down around three-quarters of a cent against the greenback, buying US$1.0696.
Crude oil futures rallied 19 cents this morning to US$92.09 a barrel. Spot gold was $1.50 weaker at US$1,662.90 an ounce.
Further confirmation, if any were needed, of just how weak sentiment is towards our market. There were decent rallies this morning in US futures and Asia, yet the XJO is still wallowing around yesterday's lows. Well, volatility is the trader's friend and I've had a fair morning grabbing lows in the likes of PRR, NWH, GWA, QAN and SFR. Still holding the latter two and a second lot of PRR for any arvo recoveries.
