Thanks Tweets. Half-time round-up:A mid-morning recovery in...

Thanks Tweets. Half-time round-up:

A mid-morning recovery in local shares after an early retreat faded by lunchtime as regional markets turned firmly lower.

At 1pm the ASX 200 was off 28 points or 0.6% at 4699 and on target for its fourth losing session this week. The financial sector was the main drag on the market, falling 0.9% as NAB and BOQ traded ex-dividend and Treasurer Wayne Swan called for more competition for the big four banks. Early gains in mining stocks evaporated as the morning advanced.

The dollar slipped back below parity with the U.S. dollar as the greenback continued to benefit from "safe haven" buying as clouds gathered over Europe. The dollar was recently buying 99.66 U.S. cents.

"It's all about euro-zone sovereign risk and the possibility of default in Ireland," HiFX trading director Mike Hollows told Fairfax. "The euro is sharply lower and that's helped drag the Aussie lower."

Asian markets followed Wall Street lower. Japan's Nikkei eased 0.81%, Shanghai 1.18% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 1.48%. Dow futures were recently at -22.

Crude oil futures tumbled 88 cents this morning to $86.84 a barrel as the U.S. dollar index pushed to 78.31. The spot gold price eased $8.10 at $1,401 an ounce.


The market was looking pretty good for a while there before Shanghai opened well down. Pity. This is my last trading day for a week so I've been trimming positions and looking for quick scalps. Sold some VHL on this morning's announcement, holding the rest for now. Scalps this morning in ALL (twice), BLD, MDL and MCR.

This is my last post until I return from a week's holiday on Monday Nov 22. Have a great trading week all - may all your wins be major and all your losses minor.