Thanks Brit and morning crew. Half-time round-up: Cautious gains...

Thanks Brit and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

Cautious gains in Chinese equities and a late rebound on Wall Street helped the ASX edge towards its first gain of 2016 after seven sessions of heavy selling.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was trading eight points or almost 0.2% ahead at 4940 and within reach of its first advance since December 30. At yesterday's low the benchmark index had fallen 7% or more than 400 points in seven sessions.

Yield stocks led the rally, with telecoms rising 1.4%, financials 0.8%, health +0.8% and property trusts 0.8%. The biggest drags were metals & mining -1.3%, energy -1.3% and gold -1.2%.

Overnight, US stocks reversed initial losses to close higher for the first time in four sessions. Dow futures this morning fluctuated between positive and negative territory, lately ahead 15 points or 0.1%.

“Another heavy sell-off [on the ASX] yesterday driven by China concerns means there is the potential for a short-term bounce today,” Angus Nicholson, market analyst at IG, told Bloomberg. “There has been a bit of a rally coming into US markets just before the close. The big question is whether this is only a ‘dead-cat bounce’ and traders may just be looking to sell into the rally.”

Also helping the market mood was a cautiously positive start to Chinese trade after a 5.32% plunge yesterday on the Shanghai Composite. The SC was lately up 0.25%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ahead 0.8% and Japan's Nikkei down 1.85%.

Crude oil futures eased seven cents this morning to US$31.13 a barrel. Spot gold was 50 cents softer at US$1,095.50 an ounce. The dollar was buying 69.98 US cents.


Thought we might see a bigger relief rally this morning. Suggests the shorts don't feel too much pressure to cover yet. Gotta say, US indices look much uglier than the XJO. We're at a natural point for a bounce, not so sure about Wall Street. Trading: much easier to find trades when there is panic in the market. Passed on a lot of marginal trades this morning. No buy orders hit so far.  Made enough yesterday to be patient.