Shares reversed two days of losses before trimming gains ahead of a downbeat Chinese economic update.
At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was 15 points or 0.3% ahead at 5523, below the session high of 5549. Telecoms and financials were the biggest drags on the index, falling 1.5% and 0.25%, respectively. The morning's best returns came in IT +1.7%, energy +1.4% and metals & mining +1.4%.
The market began the session strongly after Wall Street hit a new record overnight.
“As long as US shares continue to rally, equity markets will remain stable,” Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets, told Bloomberg. “The rally looks sustainable. What we’re looking at is a climb into the wall of worry into the year-end, with elevated risks given these abnormal monetary conditions.”
Much of the shine had come off the rally before the noon release of data showing Chinese industrial production, retail sales and fixed asset investment all came in below expectations last month. China's Shanghai Composite rallied 0.42%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.77% and Japan's Nikkei 0.72%. Dow futures were recently down three points or 0.02%.
Crude oil futures gained 22 cents or 0.5% this morning at US$43.71 a barrel. Gold futures were $4.30 or 0.3% in the red at US$1,345.50 an ounce. The dollar was buying 76.8 US cents.
Lacklustre news from China, but when markets are so reliant on central bank support, there is no guarantee that it will be viewed as a negative. Economy faltering? More stimulus! Hooray! Trading: bit more life today. Got a few pips from VLW, holding LEG and AOW.
