Thanks Roaminoz. Apologies to all for turning back the clock with the pre-market thread title this morning.
Half-time round-up:
Falling resource stocks steered the Australian market lower this morning as Asian markets reacted to disappointing overnight US economic news.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was 26 points or 0.6% weaker at 4402 but still on track to finish higher for the week thanks to solid rises on Monday and Tuesday. Overnight falls in commodity prices were the main drag on the market, sending the gold sector down 2.6%, energy 2.1% and metals & mining 1.1%. The defensive telecoms and consumer staples were the pick of the handful of rising sectors.
"The [overnight] US data was quite disappointing and it seems like it's now catching up with the rest of the world," Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG Markets," told Bloomberg. "Commodities prices have weakened, so the likes of BHP will be negatively affected."
Asian markets eased back. Shanghai fell 0.15% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.75%. Japan was closed for a public holiday. Dow futures were recently ahead one point or less than 0.1%.
The Reserve Bank this morning cut its growth and inflation outlooks as it continued to play catch-up with the recent downward trend in domestic economic data. The GDP outlook for the year was reduced from 3.5% in February to 3% and consumer inflation downgraded from 3% to 2.5%. The bank made no reference to rate cuts but analysts said the reduction in GDP left the door open for further cuts.
Crude oil futures rallied 13 cents this morning to US$102.68 a barrel. Spot gold eased 30 cents to US$1,636.20 an ounce. The dollar was buying US$1.0275.
Plenty of pullbacks underway, offering relatively safe intraday entries. AQG had come so far in two days that a buy at open was a reasonable risk. Also had wins in CPL and NSE. Missed quite a few more. Recently added GGG and had a second look at CPL.
