daytrades jan 17 afternoon

Thanks Tweets. Half-time round-up:

Shares are lower for the first session in four as inflationary pressures fuel the case for interest rate rises.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was 17 points or 0.4% weaker at 4784 as mining stocks retreated following China's latest move to cool its economy. Consumer stocks and IT were among a handful of sectors to trade positive.

"On Friday, overseas, there was a bit of weakness in resources, particularly as gold stocks were sold back," Shaw Stockbroking senior dealer Jamie Spiteri told Fairfax. "The fall of the gold price on Friday evening in the US is having an impact across the whole sector."

Inflation rose last month and is expected to worsen in the months ahead as floods in Queensland pressure food prices. The TDS?MI monthly inflation gauge rose 0.2% in December for an annual rate of 3.8% - well above the Reserve Bank's target band of 2-3%.

"The consequences of the Queensland floods leaves inflation risks firmly tilted to the upside, where the immediate fallout is a likely spike in food price inflation in the March quarter," Annette Beacher, head of Asia-Pacific Research at TD Securities, told Fairfax.

Asian markets were mixed, with Japan's Nikkei following Wall Street higher and Shanghai still suffering the fall-out from the latest tightening of bank lending practices. The Nikkei was up 0.45%, Shanghai down 0.55% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 0.33%. Dow futures were recently at -5 ahead of tonight's public holiday.

Crude oil futures were virtually unchanged this morning, up 7 cents at $91.47 a barrel. Spot gold was $3.10 stronger at $1,364.90 an ounce. The dollar was buying 98.87 U.S. cents.


Pretty much a wasted morning here, with technical problems undermining the ability to trade. Orders taking too long to process. Can't find any explanation on the news wires. Just one trade open - small punt on a reversal in ADX. May be in too early but these 'Revolution in [insert latest country here]' price plunges tend to smooth over fairly quickly.