daytrades june 18 afternoon

Thanks Tweets. Half-time round-up:

The Australian share market recovered most of yesterday's losses this morning as overnight resilience on Wall Street bolstered hopes that the recent correction is easing.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was ahead 23 points or 0.5% at 4550, driven by strength in the gold sector, big miners and banks.

"We saw a reasonable performance from the US market last night, not withstanding that the US data wasn't as positive as some had hoped," Burrell Stockbroking director Richard Herring told Fairfax websites.

In company news, shares in DJS slumped nearly 5% this morning after CEO Mark McInnes resigned in disgrace over a sexual harassment complaint. In a resignation statement, McInnes said he had "committed serious errors of judgement". Paul Zahra, who has been with the company for 12 years, was appointed the new CEO.

Shares in ALS tanked after the company announced it will suspend dividends because it expects a $126 million loss this fiscal year. The company said it expected net profit before significant items of around $12 million this financial year but significant items would push the final result to a net loss.

Asian markets were mixed. Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.07% in morning trade and Shanghai was off 0.03% but Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.72%. Dow futures were recently at -3.

Crude oil futures inched 4 cents higher this morning to $76.62 a barrel. The spot gold price was $2.10 weaker at $1,243 an ounce.


Good to see our market hold its gains this morning despite early weakness in Asia. A solid morning. Bought DJS at the open on the assumption that the McInnes scandal would blow over quickly - turned out well. Overnight hold in DOW has come good. Cashed in half but there should be more in it. BXB looking overdone intraday - in at 5.92.