Afternoon all. This time last week punters were ready to pack in the daytrade game. Like I said then, "harden up", volatility is the name of the game and there is nowhere else to play it but on the ASX. This week we are rewarded by some spectacular gains and price swings. Hope you got a few. Main thing is to be aware of support and resistance levels and don't get caught up with all the share spruiking that goes on on the other threads.
Gotta have a few sympathetic thoughts for HLL who is missing out on a great week for traders. But isn't it the way. (Except I was away for the worst 4 weeks in history, lol)
Anyway, make hay while the sun shines and ?. Happy Trades
Midday Report courtesy of Commsec
MIDDAY REPORT (12.00pm AEST)
The Australian sharemarket is improving after a slow start to trade, following a solid employment report this morning. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) is currently flat. Almost all sectors are trading slightly lower at lunch however.
The country?s largest miner, BHP Billiton (BHP) is down 0.4 pct or 18 cents to $44.27 and RIO Tinto (RIO) is down 0.19 pct or 16 cents to $83.44. Gold producer Newcrest Mining (NCM) is 1 pct or 38 cents higher to $38.53.
Australia?s major banks are mixed after 2 hours of trade, with Westpac (WBC) down 0.27 pct or 6 cents to $21.83, ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) is down 0.41 pct or 9 cents to $21.76, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is up 0.14 pct or 7 cents to $51.54 and National Australia Bank (NAB) is 0.32 pct or 8 cents higher to $25.06.
After a few weak days this week, department store owner Myer (MYR) is finally gaining by 0.78 pct or 2 cents to $2.59 while its competitor David Jones (DJS) is 1.54 pct or 6 cents stronger to $3.96.
The price of crude oil eased by a trivial margin last night to US$96.65 and Australia?s second largest oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum (WPL) is down 0.34 pct or 14 cents to $40.78. Santos (STO) is down 0.38 pct or 5 cents to $13.26. WPL was first listed on the ASX back in 1971.
WPL manages the North West Shelf Venture (NWSV), which is the third largest producer of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in the world. One of the main benefits of LNG over its gaseous state is both in its storage and transportation. It takes a lot less space to transport LNG which is then regasified once the shipment reaches its destination.
The Asian sharemarkets are mostly lower, with Japan?s Nikkei 225 index down 0.07 pct or 6.72 pts to 10075.76, China?s Shanghai Composite index is 0.27 pct or 7.69 pts lower to 2802.78 while shares in South Korea are up 0.43 pct or 9.3 pts to 2180.49.
On the economic front today, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released its latest employment report which showed that the country?s jobless rate has remained at 4.9 pct.
The best performing stock at lunch is Jervois Mining (JRV), which is up 33.33 pct or 0.1 cent to 0.4 cents. JRV is a minerals explorer and developer, was first listed on the ASX back in 1980 and has a market capitalisation of $13.9 million.
So far today, 776 million shares have been traded worth $1.51 billion. 433 shares are up, 382 are lower and 315 are currently unchanged.
The Australian dollar is significantly stronger following the ABS?s jobs report and buys US107.4 cents.
