Daytrading May 21 afternoon

Thanks Brit and morning regulars.


Half-time round-up:

The share market pared a three-day slump after overcoming a mid-morning wobble as Chinese factory data fell short of expectations.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was trading 40 points or 0.75% ahead at 5652 after earlier rising as high as 5661. The market briefly came off its high following the 11.45am EST release of data showing that Chinese factory activity has continued to contract this month. HSBC's preliminary purchasing managers' index improved to 49.1 from a final April reading of 48.9 but fell short of the economists' target of 49.4. Read more here.

"Softer client demand, both at home and abroad, along with further job cuts indicate that the sector may find it difficult to expand, at least in the near-term, as companies tempered production plans in line with weaker demand conditions," said Annabel Fiddes, economist at Markit.

The metals & mining sector briefly pared its rally before recovering to last trade 1.5% ahead. The health sector rallied 2.2%, energy 1.6%, materials 1.6% and industrials 1%. The gold sector was down 0.6%, utilities 0.2% and property trusts 0.1%.

Also weighing on risk appetite were soft US futures. Dow futures were recently down 35 points or 0.2%. China's Shanghai Composite rallied 0.89%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.11% and Japan's Nikkei gained 0.46%.

Crude oil futures strengthened 20 cents this morning to US$59.18 a barrel. Spot gold was $3 firmer at US$1,211.70 an ounce. The dollar was buying 78.96 US cents.


US equity futures are unusually soft for this time of day. The greenback is also coming off, which suggests traders may be having a rethink about the Fed minutes. No real cause for alarm yet, but worth keeping a watchful eye if you're thinking about holding anything overnight that moves with the broader market (ie, not specs). Trading: congratulations to PRR holders. Wow. I haven't touched it today - no idea how to pick an entry when a share opens that far above its close. Likewise with SOR - always looked likely to end in tears for a lot of buyers. I'm more comfortable buying when no one wants 'em. CAV and CNX gave nice trades. Added VTX now it's back in the buy zone. Marginally underwater in APN, which has not bounced as enthusiastically as usual.