daytrading nov 5 afternoon

Thanks Endless.

Half-time round-up:

Australian shares hit a four-week low this morning before rebounding amid a flood of economic news, improving US futures and falls across Asian markets.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was ahead one point or less than 0.1% at 4461 after earlier falling as low as 4436, a level last seen on October 3. Skinny gains in most of the big banks, IT stocks and defensive sectors offset falls across the rest of the investment spectrum in cautious trade ahead of tomorrow's Reserve Bank rate decision and US elections.

"Investors hate uncertainty, so there will be a sigh of relief when the [US] election is over," Craig James, chief economist at CommSec, told Reuters. "Provided there is a clear election result and no change in the divided Congress, then traders and investors will see it as 'business as usual'."

Asian markets back-pedalled following Friday's tumble on Wall Street. Shanghai lost 0.15%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.28% and Japan's Nikkei 0.13%. Dow futures were recently up 38 points or 0.3%.

The Reserve Bank was offered plenty of food for thought this morning as economic data painted a mixed picture of the economy. Retail sales increased by 0.5% in September, ahead of expectations, and the trade deficit narrowed as exports fell less than imports. Services activity contracted for a ninth straight month but at a slower pace last month. Job ads hit a two-year low. Read more here.

Crude oil futures improved 24 cents this morning to US$85.01 a barrel. Spot gold was $3 stronger at US$1,680.80 an ounce. The dollar was buying $US1.0364.


A slight pick-up in risk appetite this morning - oil, gold, Aussie dollar, US futures all up. Partly explains the XJO's rebound this morning. Dunno if I'm over-cautious but I couldn't find a lot this morning. Added SVW at support and grabbed CNO and DJS on pullback.