daytrades oct 13 afternoon

Thanks Tweets. Half-time round-up:

Regional markets recovered some of yesterday's sharp falls this morning, with industrial and mining stocks pushing the local market higher.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was ahead 21 points or 0.46% at 4639 after a rebound in consumer confidence helped reverse a mid-morning slide. The gains were led by industrials +1%, metals & mining +1% and materials +1%.

The WBC-MI consumer sentiment index climbed 3.3% this month after the Reserve Bank left interest rates on hold. The rise partly reversed September's 5% fall in confidence.

"Households reacted to a range of favourable news," Westpac chief economist Bill Evans told Fairfax. "The decision by the Reserve Bank to keep rates on hold at the October board meeting would have buoyed consumers."

In a possible sign of things to come, CSL warned this morning that it may have to cut its full-year profit forecast if the Australian dollar stays around these levels. The dollar was this morning buying 98.89 U.S. cents.

Asian markets mostly advanced. Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng were both up 0.9% but Shanghai was off 0.11%. Dow futures were recently at +28 after Intel rose nearly 1% in after-market trade after reporting Q3 earnings this morning.

Gold and oil continued to recover from overnight losses this morning. The spot gold price added $3.40 to reach $1,354 an ounce. Crude oil futures rallied 33 cents this morning to $82.07 a barrel.


A mixed morning here, with some good wins and a few trades still underwater. Used the bright open to unload the remainder of yesterday's "market plunge" buys for solid gains, then looked around for other potential bounce trades. Caught bounces this morning on MRE, PLA and HVN. Got into BBG and ERA a few points too early - hoping for afternoon opportunities to unload. Also bet that NVT would hold at support. Not so far...