Daytrading June 7 afternoon

Thanks Brit - welcome back.


Half-time round-up:

The ASX pushed towards a third straight gain fuelled by rising commodity prices after the Federal Reserve reassured investors that US rates will increase slowly.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was 28 points or 0.5% stronger at 5388 as gains in the energy sector +2.2%, metals & mining +1.9% and financials +0.8% outweighed declines in gold -1.1%, consumer staples -0.8% and health -0.1%. The rally followed a seven-month closing high on Wall Street overnight after Fed chief Janet Yellen hinted that a July hike was off the table but rates would likely increase later in the year.

“It seems likely that we will get at most one rate hike this year and that’s positive for equities and commodities,"  Ric Spooner, chief analyst at CMC Markets, told Bloomberg. "Of the beaten-down commodities, the oil market is the best place. We’re already seeing supply cutbacks.”

In Asia, China's Shanghai Composite eased 0.25%, but there were gains on Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0.86% and Japan's Nikkei +0.36% Dow futures were recently up three points or 0.02%.

Crude oil futures eased 16 cents or 0.3% this morning to US$49.53 a barrel. Gold futures were 70 cents or 0.06% softer at US$1,246.70 an ounce. The dollar was buying 73.67 US cents.


Wall Street looks keen to have a look at last year's record high, which could clear the way for a decent breakout here. Lots of upside between 5400 and 5700 on the XJO. Brexit is a possible cloud on the horizon, but the US tends to get over overseas problems pretty quickly when there is money to be made. Trading: funny old game. I bought some KAI yesterday and was content to sell most in the closing auction. Woke up this morning and boom - lithium announcement. Ah well. Sold the rest into today's fleeting rally. Traded EHE twice for a few pips each time. Also took MBK and GXL