Daytrading August 23 afternoon

Thanks Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

The ASX 200 shrugged off a downbeat session in Asia to move through the top of the trading band established during several weeks of low volatility on world markets.

At 1pm EST the benchmark index was 47 points or 0.8% ahead at 5562 after earlier touching its highest level since August 2. The market has been range-trading between 5500 and 5550 for the last three weeks as summer holidays in the US and Europe depressed trading activity.

"Markets continue to trade in [the] eerily low-volume low-volatility dog days of Northern hemisphere summer," IG analyst Angus Nicholson told Fairfax. "Stocks and bonds trading at historically high valuations [are] seeing the steady push of capital into the higher risk premium ends of the market."

An upbeat morning saw gains in health +1.1%, financials +1.1%, consumer discretionary +1% and materials +0.7%. Gold and energy were the only sectors to miss the upswing following downswings in their underlying commodities yesterday.

Asian markets were subdued. China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.41%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.24% and Japan's Nikkei shed 0.22%. Dow futures were recently off five points or 0.03%.

Gold futures declined $2.20 or 0.16% this morning to US$1,341.20 an ounce. The dollar was buying 76.36 US cents.


A surprisingly chipper session on the ASX, with the XJO having a peek above the top of its recent trading band. Possibility of  run at 5600? Depends to some extend on whether the greenback exerts much pressure on commodities. Trading: BSM gave a pip, FGR a half. Still holding AZY, for the hat-trick. Stubborn brute.