daytrading april 20 afternoon

Thanks Endless.

Half-time round-up:

The Australian share market consolidated two days of solid gains this morning, once again proving more resilient than most regional markets,

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was off seven points or 0.2% at 4354 after trading in an unusually tight 15-point range. There was no clear pattern to trade, with skinny gains in IT, energy and health offset by falls falls across the rest of the market. Trading volumes were at least 20% below the 30-day average, according to Bloomberg.

"The market's weak but not that weak," IG Markets analyst Cameron Peacock told Fairfax. "Last night we had some disappointing data out of the US, existing homes sales falling, Philly FED manufacturing index slipping, we had weekly jobless claims rising, so that was a bit contrary to some of the improving economic data we've seen from the US in recent times."

Export prices have slumped more than economists expected this year as coal and iron ore declined. Prices fell 7% last quarter, the ABS said this morning.

"It's a bit more than expected," NAB economist Spiros Papadodoulos told Fairfax. "But obviously our terms of trade are deteriorating. It's just a sign that we're not going to see as favourable prices for our exports this year than what we've seen in the past couple of years and that reflects the weak global environment at the moment."

Asian markets were mixed. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.42%, Shanghai inched up 0.05% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.4%. Dow futures were recently down six points or less than 0.1%.

Crude oil futures eased seven cents this morning to US$102.55 a barrel. Spot gold was $1.90 weaker at US$1,641.30 an ounce. The dollar was buying US$1.0324.


Good to see a few runners at the spec end because the mid-caps, my bread and butter, have been flat as a lake this week. Been very slow going and not a lot of fun. Haven't found a trade yet today, which either means I'm keeping my discipline or not looking hard enough. Bring on the weekend.