Thanks Endless. Also thanks to the posters who responded to my Iress question this morning. Problem didn't last long but it cruelled the critical first 20 minutes when a lot of the best prices were to be had.
Half-time round-up:
A negative morning for BHP ahead of its full-year result and some poorly-received earning reports have the Australian share market on track for a fifth straight loss.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was 22 points or 0.45% in the red at 5089 but well off a morning low of 5057 after the Reserve Bank left the door open for further rate cuts. ARI, ANN and SHL were among the morning's heavyweight star performers after reporting full-year results this morning. Less well-received were results from QBE, MND, CCL and IVC. BHP was lately down 0.89%.
Health was the pick of the sectors, rising 1.4%, followed by telecoms +0.5%. Consumer staples skidded 1.7%, gold 1.4%, materials 0.9% and financials 0.3%.
The minutes from the last Reserve Bank meeting showed the central bank was open to further cuts to the cash rate if the dollar remains at elevated heights. "Members agreed that the bank should neither close off the possibility of reducing rates further, nor signal an imminent intention to reduce rates further," the minutes said. "The course of the exchange rate would be important."
Asian markets were mixed this morning. Shanghai was lately ahead 0.57%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 0.25% and Japan's Nikkei off 0.54%. Dow futures were up three points or less than 0.1%.
"It's a very uncomfortable period," Richard Yetsenga, head of global markets research at ANZ, told Bloomberg. "Asia as a whole, even though the data's probably okay, is not going to feel like a great place for a while as we adjust to the new world order where US bond yields are going up, not down."
Crude oil futures edged up seven cents this morning to US$106.97 a barrel. Spot gold bounced 70 cents to US$1,366.20 an ounce. The dollar was buying 90.88 US cents.
Some of the heat coming out of the specs - with a few honourable exceptions. I feared anyone buying FAS and MNC at today's exuberant opening prices was likely to get toasted. Shows how much I know. Well done to holders. Like Giz, I await the inevitable pullbacks. Had to reboot the computer exactly when I would normally have been buying this morning and therefore missed a lot of the opportunities, especially among the goldies. Got a start in ILU, which is recovering nicely. Less successful so far in MAH and MYG.
