Thanks Endless. Also an overdue thanks to Mitta and Ay for taking the pre-market thread to another level. The thread is probably the strongest it has been in its (approximately) four-and-a-half-year existence, thanks to your contributions. Big thumbs up.
Half-time round-up:
The share market declined for a second day as Asian markets retreated and new figures painted a conflicting picture of the economy.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was 19 points or 0.4% weaker at 5098 as the big banks and retail stocks retreated. Gold shares topped a short list of rising sectors, advancing 1.8%. Other gains included metals & mining +1%, materials +0.9%, energy +0.5% and industrials +0.1%.
"The market has run very very hard and it is due for a pullback," Andrew Pease, chief investment strategist at Russell Investment Group, told Bloomberg. "You wouldn't expect us to be back to pre-crisis levels any time soon given that we know we're going to get sluggish growth going forward."
Both consumer sectors went backwards despite data showing consumer sentiment hit a two-year high this month. The WBC/MI index improved by 2% to 110.5 points, the best reading since late 2010. However, any optimism that recent rate cuts were having a positive impact was tempered by a fourth straight monthly drop in home loans. The number of loans approved in January was 1.5% lower than the previous month at 44,383.
Asian markets ticked lower despite positive US futures. Shanghai lost 0.22%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.3% and Japan's Nikkei 0.14%. Dow futures were recently up 13 points or 0.1%.
Crude oil futures rallied 22 cents this morning to US$92.73 a barrel. Spot gold inched up 10 cents to US$1,592.30 an ounce. The dollar was buying $US1.032.
Looks like the best place to be today was where many of you spent yesterday: KDR and CFU. Not often you see two spec runners go on with it as well as those two have this week. A bullish sign, even if sentiment at the small end seems to be improving just as it wanes a little at the big end. Lots of lovely volatility in the mid-caps this week, setting up my best run in a while. Nice recoveries this morning in KAR, CCP and MYR. SXL was the only disappointment. I wanted MEL a little lower and didn't get an entry - well done to those who made good.
