daytrading june 6 afternoon

Thanks Endless (also Ramallah and Fortune Finder from this morning - comments much appreciated).

Half-time round-up:

Shares rallied for the first time in four sessions despite a lacklustre response from Asian markets to European stimulus measures announced overnight.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was trading 34 points or 0.6% higher at 5471 but still on course to close lower for the week after falling 80 points in the three previous sessions. The gold sector +2.5%, I.T. +1.4%, financials +1.2% and energy +1% were the pick of the sectors. The defensive telecoms -0.6% and utilities -0.4% lost ground.

Construction activity continued to contract last month but at a slower rate. The AIG Construction Index rose to 46.7 from 45.9 in April but remained below the 50-point level that divides contraction from expansion.

Asian markets showed little enthusiasm for a stimulus package unveiled by the European Central Bank overnight. China's Shanghai Composite slid 0.22%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.27% and Japan's Nikkei lost 0.02%. Dow futures were recently up 20 points or more than 0.1% ahead of tonight's monthly US jobs report.

Crude oil futures edged up three cents this morning to US$102.49 a barrel. Spot gold was 20 cents softer at US$1,253.40 an ounce. The dollar was buying 93.3 US cents.


Finally some relief for the local market. Been a rough old week. Hope others fared better than I have. Got out of CTD near the open for a decent profit from earlier in the week. Also got something out of SDL, but man it has to be the tricksiest share on the board - the market depth is as reliable as a politician's promise.