daytrading jan 10 afternoon

Thanks Endless.

Half-time round-up:

Mining stocks hit a three-week low ahead of Chinese trade figures this morning as the share market faded towards a fifth loss in six sessions.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was trading 15 points or 0.3% at 5308 as this week's theme of falling resource stocks continued to play out. The metals & mining sector slumped 1.9% to a level last seen in mid-December. Also weak were materials -1.5%, gold -1.3% and consumer discretionary -1%. Gains in consumer staples +0.2%, financials +0.2% and telecoms +0.2% helped cushion the fall.

"Valuations are pretty full and that's just keeping people a little cautious," CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner told Fairfax. "The mood of the market is one where people are looking for more evidence before they take things higher."

Asian markets were mixed ahead of the release of Chinese trade figures. The Shanghai Composite lost 0.42%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.14% and Japan's Nikkei gave up 0.48%. Dow futures were recently up 13 points or 0.1%.

Crude oil futures slipped two cents this morning to US$92.39 a barrel. Spot gold was $1.70 firmer at US$1,229.40 an ounce. The dollar was buying 89.01 US cents.



Want to take a moment to commend some of the posters here for some first-rate work on the thread over the last week, especially in last night's after-market lounge. There have been some exceptional posts. (Rampers spruiking their own book - I don't mean you.) Differences of opinion have been generally handled maturely and rationally. That's what the thread should be all about - education, an exchange of profitable ideas and a few laughs. Helped restore my faith in the thread after a rocky run in to Christmas. Let's keep it up. Trading: commiserations to holders of NEN and to a lesser extent ACG. Brutal for those already in, but a gift to traders. I traded NEN twice and ACG once. Also took AUT at round-number support. Profitable session to finish the week.