daytrading july 16 afternoon

Thanks Endless.

Half-time round-up:

A tepid morning on Asian markets has taken some of the shine off a second day of gains in Australia and dragged US futures lower.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was up 29 points or 0.7% at 4111 after hitting a high of 4126 following strong gains in the US and Europe on Friday night. All sectors were trading higher, led by gold +1.9%, energy +1.4% and metals & mining +1.3%.

"Good earnings news from JPMorgan and Wells Fargo [on Friday] highlights the strength of US banks, in sharp contrast to European banks," Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy for AMP Capital Investments, told MarketWatch. "This helps underpin US bank lending and provides added confidence that the US economy is not about to plunge back into recession."

Asian markets struggled for traction despite the strong leads. Japan's Nikkei edged up 0.05%, Shanghai dropped 0.98% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.07%. Dow futures were recently down 27 points or 0.2%.

Crude oil futures declined 38 cents this morning to US$86.69 a barrel. Spot gold was $2 softer at US$1,586.10 an ounce. The dollar was buying $US1.0221.


A disappointing lack of follow-through from Friday's overseas bullishness exhibited this morning. Oil, gold and copper are all down a fraction and Asian markets are being steered lower by Shanghai. Dunno what's behind it but the XJO is unlikely to resist the cold winds if they keep blowing this afternoon. I figured ANP was worth an intraday stake as a third day of selling clears out the froth and T+3 traders. No bounce as yet but there's a grand old battle going at 2c.