The share market looks set for a second straight losing week after the big miners slumped to their lowest levels in more than a month.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was 34 points or 0.6% weaker at 5816 and on track to end the week with a loss of more than 80 points. A broad retreat pulled all sectors lower except the Small Ords, which rose 0.2%. The metals & mining sector was the biggest weight, falling 1.1% to a six-week low as BHP and Rio Tinto snubbed positive overnight leads from the US.
The mood was brighter in Asia, where China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.61%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.26% and Japan's Nikkei 1.46%. Dow futures were recently ahead 27 points or 0.15%.
Crude oil futures rebounded 19 cents this morning to US$47.24 a barrel. Spot gold rallied $5.30 to US$ 1,157.20 an ounce. The dollar was buying 77.02 US cents.
Nice little rally in gold this morning. Noticed that a few goldies seem to be pre-empting a bounce over the last two sessions, albeit from what look like fairly oversold conditions. Took RSG this morning on spec. PRU is another that looks promising if - IF! - gold reverses. It would likely take a reversal in the greenback for that to happen. Tight stop. Squeezed a few pips out of MJP but not as much as hoped - the selling is relentless. Also took ANN for the recovery from under $26. Bit of a ho-hum week.
