daytrades june 7 afternoon

Thanks Tweets. Half-time round-up:

A fifth morning of falls has dragged shares to their lowest level since mid-March, despite modest rallies on Asian markets.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was down 31 points or 0.7% at 4537. A general retreat from risk was underlined by relative strength in defensive stocks and blue chips, compared to cyclical sectors and the speculative end of the market. Telecoms, utilities and consumer staples were the only sectors to advance, and the ASX 20 (-0.5%) outperformed the Small Ords (-1%).

"Commodities are going the opposite way from equities. That shows a market that's completely undecided about its future," Richard Morrow, director at broker EL&C Baillieu, told Fairfax. "Equities... are measures of unquantifiable things like fear and greed. And at the moment sentiment is poor."

Asian markets were mixed but improving. Japan's Nikkei edged 0.03% higher, Shanghai 0.34% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.68%. Dow futures were recently at +2.

A 12th straight month of contraction in the construction industry added to the case against a rate rise at this afternoon's Reserve Bank meeting. The AIG/HIA construction performance index inched up to 39.6 last month from 37.9 in April, but remained well below the 50 level that indicates expansion.

Crude oil futures eased 21 cents this morning to US $98.57 a barrel. Spot gold was $2.30 weaker at US $1.543.50 an ounce. The dollar was near steady, buying US $1.0735.


Gotta say, these are the toughest trading conditions since the miserable depths of the GFC. Participation levels are poor, making it unusually hard to pick an entry level. The usual rules don't apply. The profits in winning trades these last two weeks have barely exceeded my losses. Took skinny profits this morning from bounces in MNC, AMP, VLA, PLV, MCE and QAN. Holding TOL, PRU and TAH. It's a grind.