Daytrading November 18 afternoon

Thanks Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

Shares edged higher for a third day despite pressure on the dollar and commodity prices as a rally in the US greenback continued.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was 16 points or 0.3% ahead at 5355, still short of the level of 5371 where the benchmark index ended last week. Telecoms led the gains for a second day, lately up 1.8%. Also strong: IT +1.3%, consumer discretionary +1% and financials +0.4%.

The gold sector sagged 3.6% to a five-month low as US gold futures dipped $10.40 or 0.83% this morning to US$1,206.60 an ounce. The energy sector gained 0.2% despite crude oil futures dropping 55 cents or 1.2% to US$44.88 a barrel.

The US dollar continued to advance overnight on the expectation that the Federal Reserve will raise its key rate next month. The Australian dollar was lately buying 74.01 US cents.

“Right now it is a [US] dollar-dominated story,” Philip Borkin, senior economist at ANZ Bank New Zealand, told Bloomberg. “But beyond a Fed rate hike next month, many questions remain over the path of policy going forward - for both fiscal and monetary.”

China's Shanghai Composite shed 0.17% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.24%. Japan's Nikkei added 0.85%. Dow futures were recently down 27 points or 0.14%.


Goldies copping another hammering. Been a 'marking time' week on the broader market - not a bad result while the market decides whether there is more in the Trump rally. US dollar action dominating trade. RBA might get the lower Aussie it has been praying for. Trading: low-key morning as Fridays so often are. Got something out of MBE. Ahead in NTU.