daytrades feb 25 afternoon

Thanks Tweets. Half-time round-up:

Early gains in Australian stocks slipped away this morning despite Wall Street's positive overnight lead.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was down 10 points or 0.22% at 4638 and well off the morning high of 4689. Gold stocks were once again the principal whipping boy - the sector slumped 1.8%. Industrial stocks slipped 1.2% as most sectors tipped into the red.

Lend Lease launched an $806 million capital raising as it forecast a similar full-year profit to last financial year and warned of difficult trading conditions overseas.

"Market conditions for our construction business in the US and Europe remain very difficult and our earnings have been impacted by the strong Australian dollar," said Chief executive Steve McCann in a statement. "Nonetheless, Lend Lease continues to perform well."

In economic news, business investment is picking up and looks markedly higher than government budget estimates. December-quarter capital expenditure was 5.5% higher seasonally adjusted than the previous quarter. Economists had forecast a 1.5% rise.

Wages also improved as the labour market tightened. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show full-time earnings climbed 2% to a weekly average of $1226.

Asian markets were mixed. Japan's Nikkei was 0.2% lower but Shanghai advanced 0.9% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.22%. Dow futures were at a mildly bearish -24.

Crude oil futures edged 7 cents higher this morning to $80.12 a barrel. The spot gold price was recently 10 cents higher at $1,097.20 an ounce.


Managed a quick scalp on GBP this morning. Caught DOM on the bounce once successfully and went back for a second bite, currently underwater. Also added AWE at 2.62 - keeps bouncing off this level. Slightly baffled by the force of the selling in gold stocks this morning when the metal price is little changed.