Thanks Brit and morning regulars. Half-time round-up: A...

Thanks Brit and morning regulars.


Half-time round-up:

A region-wide relief rally swept Australian stocks higher for a third day and into positive territory for the week.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was trading 69 points or 1.3% higher at 5242, more than 25 points ahead of last Friday's close. The index has been in retreat for three weeks amid signs that the Chinese economy - a major consumer of Australian raw materials - is stuttering.

The morning's best gains came in utilities +3%, health +2.5%, consumer discretionary +1.5% and financials +1.5%. Gold -0.4% was the only sector to resist the uptrend.

The rally accelerated as Chinese shares finally responded to a week of stimulus announcements. The Shanghai Composite was lately up 1.39%, paring a five-day plunge that stripped 23% off the index. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 2.26% and Japan's Nikkei 1.86%. Dow futures were recently up 59 points or almost 0.4%.

“Equity markets are fighting back but are not yet that far off their lows,” Sharon Zollner, senior economist at ANZ Bank New Zealand, told Bloomberg. “Volatility is now markedly higher and is likely to stay that way over coming months as nervous traders react, and overreact, to news, particularly relating to the Fed and to China.”

The market shrugged off news that capital expenditure fell more than expected last quarter. Capex declined a seasonally-adjusted 4% over the three months to June, versus expectations for a fall of 2.5%. Read more here.

Crude oil futures eased 15 cents this morning to US$39.45 a barrel. Spot gold strengthened $3.40 to US$1,128 an ounce. The dollar was buying 71.35 US cents.


The easiest way to make money today was to buy yesterday. Or better still, Tuesday. As I did neither (or more, accurately, succumbed to the urge for quick profits and a good night's sleep) today represented a return to subsistence wages after a time of great plenty. Scratched a poor wage out of SEN to justify a morning in front of the PC. Not sure I can justify an afternoon in these conditions - odds on finding another bounce trade today are low.