Daytrading July 30 afternoon

Thanks Vagrants, Oscar and morning regulars. Might be an idea if Brit nominates a designated deputy to avoid duplication when she can't post. Plenty of good and willing candidates.


Half-time round-up:

Australian shares rose for the third time in four days as Asian markets rallied and investors shrugged off weak US equity futures and building approvals data.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was trading 36 points or 0.6% ahead at 5660, with falls in health stocks -0.7%, gold -0.3% and property trusts -0.2% outweighed by gains in metals & mining +2%, energy +2% and financials +0.6%.

The market quickly shrugged off news that building approvals fell 8.2% last month, eight times what analysts expected. Read more here.

Asian markets rallied despite a negative reaction this morning in the US to Facebook's after-market earnings report. China's Shanghai Composite edged up 0.17%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.42% and Japan's Nikkei 1.35%. S&P 500 futures were recently off two-and-three-quarter points or more than 0.1%. Shares in Facebook were last down 3.3% in after-market trade

Crude oil futures rose 14 cents this morning to US$48.93 a barrel. Spot gold was $3.30 softer at US$1,092.60 an ounce. The dollar was buying 73.15 US cents.


Facebook may prove a minor drag on the US tonight, but it is no bellwether and lacks the market capitalisation to dictate the market direction. China looks steady so far, but anything is possible with that market. Trading: took a big chunk out of that initial bounce in OCC. Less successful so far bottom fishing in TRG and MCR, but plenty of time for both to come good. Suffering major problems with CommSec Iress this morning - anyone else?