daytrades may 14 afternoon

Thanks Tweets. Half-time round-up:

Regional markets sagged this morning after a weak night on Wall Street as investors re-assessed the outlook for Europe.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was down 47 points or 1% at 4605 with all sectors but gold and health trading lower. The health sector was boosted by a take-over offer for Healthscope.

"The uncertainty over the global market is the key focus at the moment," CommSec market analyst Savanth Sebastian told Fairfax. "European debt concerns continue to reverberate around the globe which has added some volatility to our market."

Asian markets followed Wall Street lower. Japan's Nikkei was down 1.61% in morning trade, Shanghai 0.55% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.72%. Dow futures were recently at -2.

The spot gold price was $2.20 higher at $1,235.70 an ounce. Crude oil futures were 6 cents higher this morning at $73.90 a barrel.