Thanks Endless. Short report today, guys - too much going on this morning.
Half-time round-up:
Further declines in the big miners clipped early gains on the ASX this morning as Asian markets struggled for traction.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was six points or 0.1% ahead at 4715 after earlier running as high as 4731. Defensive sectors accounted for much of the morning's gains as another negative session for BHP and RIO dragged the metals & mining sector down 0.2%. The financials sector was unchanged.
"In the short-term, there's scope for investors to take some profit off the table," Nader Naeimi, head of dynamic asset allocation at AMP Capital told Bloomberg. "I'd stay positive on equities as the environment remains conducive. Global leading indicators are turning up and interest rates remain quite low."
Asian markets were mixed. Shanghai eased 0.04% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 0.26%. Japan's Nikkei was closed for a public holiday. Dow futures were recently up six points or less than 0.1%.
Economic news: job ads declined for a 10th month in December. Ads were down 3.8% from November. Home loans also went backwards, falling 0.5% in November.
Crude oil futures rallied 42 cents this morning to US$94.01 a barrel. Spot gold firmed $3.20 to US$1,665.50 an ounce. The dollar was buying $U1.054.
Plenty of disappointment around this morning, creating fast and furious opportunities for the fast, furious and occasionally foolish. I count myself among that group, sometimes buying faster than my brain can compute and then repenting at leisure. Nice bounce scalps in LNC, SWM and DRK, but much of the good work was undone by premature re-entry in DRK and RXL. Out of jail in SYD from Friday but overall it's too early to call today a success.
