Daytrading Feb 23 afternoon

Thanks Brit and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

A post-earnings recovery in BHP cushioned the share market from steeper losses as investors welcomed news the mining giant had abandoned its 'progressive dividend policy'.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was trading 15 points or 0.3% lower at 4986 as a 2.4% rally in the Big Australian offset weakness in defensive sectors. Earlier, BHP fell 1.2% on news that its interim dividend will be cut by 75%, marking an end to the company's commitment to maintain or increase each dividend despite collapsing commodity prices.

"Although management flagged a changed dividend policy, some investors may be surprised to see it slashed by around 75 per cent to 16 US cents," CMC chief market strategist Michael McCarthy told Fairfax. "Buoyant oil and metals prices overnight may cushion any investor backlash in trading today."

As most of the morning's gains evaporated, the metals & mining sector held onto a gain of 1%. materials 0.7%, energy +0.11% and industrials +0.1%. Market drags included gold -1.6%, utilities -1.2% and telecoms -1.1%. The index hit a three-week high in early trade following a solid session on Wall Street overnight and a rebound in crude oil.

Asian markets fell back. China's Shanghai Composite was last down 0.36%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.19% and Japan's Nikkei 0.11%. Dow futures were off 55 points or 0.33%.

Crude oil futures eased five cents this morning to US$31.43 a barrel. Spot gold was $4.80 firmer at US$1,214.90 an ounce. The dollar was buying 72.17 US cents.


The XJO got near the old February closing high and baulked. At that point the index had put on around 270 points in seven sessions, so it's not that surprising that it took a breather. Might have some work to do around these levels if it's going higher. The general trend for the last ten months suggests a retrace is more likely. Gold has just kicked up and US futures have turned south. Trading: earned something back off CLH from a loss last week by buying under the $1 mark and getting out close to the rebound high. Made peanuts on AHG due to premature first buy. Added 1PG back at support. All a bit ho-hum after a good un yesterday.