Daytrading July14 afternoon

Thanks Oscar for this morning and Lioness for presiding here yesterday. Much appreciated.


Half-time round-up:

Shares edged towards a sixth straight rise this morning before paring gains after mixed economic data muddied the rates outlook.  

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was 15 points or 0.3% ahead at 5404 and within reach of its highest close in 11 months. The index set an intraday high of 5416 before pulling back after the 11.30am EST release of June employment data showed the economy added fewer jobs than expected.

The economy added 7,900 jobs, short of expectations for growth of at least 10,000. The jobless rate ticked up to 5.8% from 5.7% in May. However, any disappointment at the headline figures was partly offset by the fact the gains were all in fulltime work. Fulltime jobs increased by 38,400, dwarfing a decline of 30,600 in part-time work.  

Asian markets were mixed and US equity futures flat. China's Shanghai Composite dipped 0.37%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was unchanged and Japan's Nikkei up 0.76%. Dow futures were recently off one point or 0.01%.

"In recent days risk sentiment has been buoyed by the expectation of further stimulus and the lack of new news overnight appears to have taken the wind out the market's sails," Rodrigo Catril, currency strategist at NAB. told CNBC. "Expectations of stimulus need to be backed up with some action and now the risk of disappointment is starting to rise."

Crude oil futures rebounded 52 cents or 1.16% this morning to US$45.27 a barrel. Gold futures were $3.60 or 0.27% softer at US$1,340 an ounce. The dollar was buying 76.3 US cents.


Nice run up to overhead resistance, but the XJO will need a leg-up from somewhere to push through. Tomorrow's prospects depend a lot on what the Bank of England announces tonight. There does seem to be scope for disappointment, given the hot run on global markets since late last week. Tricky challenge for the BOE Governor - go too soft and the market will sell off, go too hard and there's also the chance of a sell-off on the view that the outlook must be worse than the market has priced. Needs the Goldilocks touch. Interesting times. Boris Johnson for Foreign Secretary? You're having a lend. Trading: quietly profitable partial rebounds in IPL and OGX.