daytrades june 23 afternoon

Thanks Tweets. Half-time round-up:

Shares gave back yesterday's gains as weak US futures and softening Asian markets weighed on sentiment following a downbeat view of the US economy from the Federal Reserve and an 11-month low in a key measure of Chinese manufacturing.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was off 23 points or 0.5% at 4509 as all sectors except property trusts lost ground. Telecoms was among the biggest drags on the index, sliding 0.8% after Telstra reached agreement with the federal agreement to help build the national broadband network.

"We had two pretty reasonable days leading up to today and are just seeing a bit of a reversal," IG Markets analyst Cameron Peacock told Fairfax. "That's the sort of market we're in - have two to three up days, then it will sell off. It's choppy, volatile conditions at the moment."

Asian markets retreated after the US Fed downgraded its growth outlook for this year and 2012 and a gauge of Chinese manufacturing slid to an 11-month low. The HSBC Flash manufacturing purchasing managers' index eased to 50.1 this month from 51.1 in May. Readings above 50 indicate expansion.

Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.37%, Shanghai 0.03% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.64%. Dow futures were recently at -22.

"The bulls have been talking up America's recovery... but they've had two big stimulus programs now and they may not have worked as well as anyone would like," RBS Morgans private client adviser Bill Bishop told Fairfax. "From a broker's point of view, the buyers are very cautious - a bit like they are in the shops. People aren't rushing in."

A recovery in the US dollar in the absence of any Federal Reserve plans to stimulate the economy crimped commodity prices this morning. Crude oil futures eased another 18 cents this morning to US $94.30 a barrel. Spot gold was $3.80 weaker at US $1,546 an ounce. The dollar was buying US $1.0538.


Another day, another morning fade. Onya if you're making a decent quid in these conditions. I'm finding the lack of buying interest challenging. Could be my first losing month since January 2010. Caught some of the early bounce on MML this morning and had a quick in-and-out in ARU under 80 but these are subsistence wages so far.