Daytrading Feb 12 afternoon

Thanks Brit, Jim and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

The share market resumed its downtrend this morning after heightened volatility overnight saw crude oil hit a 12-year low and markets in the US, Japan and Europe touch multi-year troughs.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was 27 points or 0.6% lower at 4794 and likely to finish lower for a second straight week. The benchmark index has lost ground on four out of five sessions this week, recovering briefly yesterday from Wednesday's two-and-a-half-year closing low.

Overnight, the S&P 500 dropped more than 2% before paring its loss to 1.23% as crude oil rebounded on speculation that OPEC may cut production. The Dow closed at a two-year low. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 finished at its lowest point since 2013.

Gold was one of the night's few winners, surging 4.5% to its highest close in a year. This morning, spot gold eased $11.10 to US$1,236.70 an ounce. In Australia, the gold sector rallied 3%. Also ahead were telecoms +0.8%, metals & mining +0.7% and property trusts +0.3%.

Utilities fell 1.5%, financials 1.2% and health 1.2%. The energy sector was down 0.2% as crude oil rebounded from its overnight low. West Texas Intermediate futures rallied $1.46 this morning to US$27.67 a barrel.

Japan's Nikkei tanked 3.88% as trading resumed after yesterday's public holiday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.56%. China's Shanghai Composite remained closed. Dow futures were recently up 43 points or 0.28%.

“We’ve entered a different phase in the market,” Juichi Wako, senior strategist at Nomura Holdings in Tokyo, told Bloomberg. “We’re not simply in a risk-off mode, the market’s fallen to the point of pricing in a recession in the US The market is saying we’re worried no matter what [Federal Reserve Chair Janet] Yellen says and their reaction shows there can be no real relief until we can truly see what’s happening in the US economy.”

The dollar was buying 71.13 US cents.


Crazy times when fortunes are made or lost on the strength of a single Tweet about crude. Sign of a nervy market. GFC comparisons tend to be overplayed but this feels like the most jittery that markets have been since 2008. Disappointed we didn't get a good, clean capitulation move this week. All been a bit inconclusive. Trading: got a good bounce out of IFM. Still holding SOR - seems overdone in the absence of negative info.