Thanks Endless. Have a great trip, mate. Dunno who is going to keep the thread honest while you're away. Cgull?
Half-time round-up:
The share market backed away from its 10th gain in 11 sessions after weak Chinese manufacturing data raised questions about the economic momentum of Australia's biggest trading partner.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was two points or 0.1% ahead at 5410. The index nudged the five-year closing high set in October shortly before the 12.45pm EST release of disappointing Chinese factory figures.
The consumer discretionary sector led the rally, rising 0.9% after MYR kept alive its merger proposal to DJS, and FXJ announced a 48.5% increase in half-year profit. A heavy morning of corporate results included rallies in BRG, IIN, LEI, AMP, SUL and IVC and declines in PNA, FBU, NPX, DLS and ORG.
The market ignored a reversal on Wall Street overnight after the Federal Reserve confirmed its intentions to continue to reduce its monthly stimulus spend.
"You got the sense from the Fed that they took into consideration the volatility in emerging markets but that the turbulence wasn’t significant enough to derail the approach they are taking," Chris Green, director of economics and strategy at First NZ Capital, told Bloomberg.
Chinese shares rallied ahead of the 12.45pm EST release of preliminary February factory data which pointed to an accelerating contraction in activity. HSBC's flash PMI dropped to a seven-month low of 48.3 from a reading of 49.5 in January. Economists had tipped a result around the 49.4 level. China's Shanghai Composite was up 1.61%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 0.27% and Japan's Nikkei down 0.61%. Emini Dow futures were recently up 26 points or nearly 0.2%.
Crude oil futures pulled back 12 cents this morning to US$103.33 a barrel. Spot gold edged up 20 cents to US$1,311.80 an ounce. The dollar was buying 89.57 US cents.
Ouch on China. If the market was looking for an excuse to retrace, it just got it. Back home, there were a few nasty surprises this morning in the likes of NXS and CFU. Commiserations to holders, especially those who have been margin-called. Tough dodging the bullets at the spec end. I had a sift through the wreckage. Began buying CFU too early in its swan-dive but patience has slowly being rewarded. Patience - might have to try it more often now I see it can work...
