daytrading may 7 afternoon

Thanks Endless.

Half-time round-up:

The Australian share market suffered its worst morning since February after European election results drove US futures sharply lower and a busy schedule of news releases painted a mixed picture of the economy.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was off 82 points or almost 1.9% at 4313, the third straight fall in a decline that has erased three weeks of gains. All sectors were trading in the red, with the heaviest falls coming in the sectors most sensitive to risk appetite: metals & mining -3.4%, energy 3.1% and the Small Ordinaries -2.6%. The falls followed anti-austerity votes overnight in France and Greece that raised the spectre of fresh political battles over Europe's debt crisis.

"There's concern that the European debt problem may get serious," a market analyst Monex in Japan told Bloomberg. "The euro is being sold in the currency market and that's negative for Japanese stocks. In the US, the job recovery is getting sluggish, fueling concern that may have a bad impact on consumer spending and housing markets."

US futures slumped this morning. Dow futures were recently down 135 points or 1%. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei slumped 2.62%, Shanghai 0.44% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 2.49%.

The dollar pared heavy initial losses this morning after building and retail figures came in stronger than tipped. The dollar was recently buying US$1.014 after trading near US$1.01.

Retail sales increased 0.9% in March, more than four times what economists expected. Building approvals rose 7.4% over the same month. Business confidence picked up. Other data was less positive. Building activity contracted for a 22nd month, business conditions worsened and job ads declined.

Crude oil futures skidded another $1.98 this morning to US$96.61 a barrel. Spot gold was $5.80 weaker at US$1,637.30 an ounce.


A gnarly morning, strictly for those with strong stomachs or alternatively a void where their trading brain should sit. I won't speculate as to which category I fit. The jury is still out on whether today is a success but I've been busy. Successful bounce trades closed in AQA, BLY and TSE. Trades still open in ASL, AAX and AAC. A lot of sell-offs look very overdone but it may take another day or two for the tide to turn.