The share market hovered near break-even this morning as gains in the banks and defensive stocks offset falls across the rest of the market.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was three points or less than 0.1% ahead at 5414 despite news of a downturn in business confidence and conditions. Telecoms +0.9%, property trusts +0.7% and financials +0.4% were the pick of the sectors. At the other end of the ledger were gold stocks -1.3%, I.T. -1.2%, the Small Ords -1% and industrials -0.8%.
NAB's monthly business survey showed trading conditions declined last month from three-year highs. The conditions gauge dropped to zero from 5 points in January. The confidence measure fell to +7 points from +9 points in January.
"The previous improvement in conditions appeared to move ahead of itself given the broader economic environment. Consequently, the fall in conditions probably reflected a realignment of conditions with underlying fundamentals," NAB chief economist Alan Oster told Fairfax. "While conditions have given back around half of their post-election gains, lower interest rates should help trading and sales conditions improve."
Asian markets steadied after heavy declines yesterday. China's Shanghai Composite was off 0.45%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 0.11% and Japan's Nikkei up 0.73%. Emini Dow futures were recently ahead five points or less than 0.1%.
Spot gold edged up 20 cents this morning to US$1,340.70 an ounce. Crude oil futures eased four at US$101.01 a barrel. The dollar was buying 90.31 US cents.
For the last two days I've been trading like the scene from 'Fight Club' where Tyler Durden beats himself up in the car park. I've given my trading account a right good kicking. Would probably have been cheaper to go skiing with Endless. Ah well. Sometimes your approach is in sync with the market, other times you'd be better off on the sidelines. Took most of my losses yesterday but held enough overnight to resalt the wounds this morning. Began to get back on track this morning with successful trades in BKN, HIL, DOW and SKE but could use a bounce in ARI. And SIR. And SFR. Wait, there's more...
