Thanks Endless. Half-time round-up:Shares have retreated for a...

Thanks Endless.

Half-time round-up:

Shares have retreated for a second session with builders hit by a slump in construction approvals and miners reacting to sharp overnight falls in commodity prices.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was off 34 points or 0.7% at 5131 but still more than 30 points ahead for the week on the back of gains over Monday and Tuesday. The defensive telecoms +0.2% and property trusts +0.4% were the only sectors to advance during a risk-averse morning as Asian markets followed Wall Street lower. Gold stocks were the worst place to be, falling 2.5%, followed by industrials -1.7%, utilities -1.7%, metals & mining -1.5% and financials -0.5%.

"The consolidation in economic momentum through March and April has resulted in a modest easing in risk appetite," Barclays wrote in a note quoted on Reuters. "In particular, there have been corrections to commodity prices, while high yield spreads and non-commodity based equities remain relatively well-supported."

Building stocks turned lower after a report showed approvals tumbled 5.5% in March. Economists had been tipping a rise of around 1.5%.

Asian markets were already in the red before the 11.45am EST release of Chinese manufacturing data confirming yesterday's weak reading. The final version of HSBC's Purchasing Managers' Index for April came in at 50.4, fractionally weaker than the preliminary reading of 50.5 but in line with expectations. Shanghai resumed trade following a three-day public holiday with a fall of 0.41%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 0.48% and Japan's Nikkei 0.47%. Dow futures were recently up 27 points or 0.2%.

Crude oil futures rallied 10 cents this morning to US$91.10 a barrel. Spot gold eased another $2.60 to US$1,454.50 an ounce. The dollar was buying $US1.026.


The odds on further rate cuts must have improved considerably this week, with this morning's building approvals another signal that the economy is stuttering. Good news for borrowers, not so good for savers/retirees. Meanwhile, lots of movement on the market this morning. I'd hoped ADN would dip before its morning run but it took off without me. Aside from that I stuck to rummaging through the bargain bins. PRR and GUF offered modest profits. Took DOW too early, but doubled up and now comfortably ahead. Break-even in MLX. Lost money on MYR yesterday because I didn't know what the sell-off was about - bought again this morning before reading the headlines. Should pay more attention to social media, lol.