Thanks Oscar and morning crew. Half-time round-up: Shares...

Thanks Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

Shares struggled to extend yesterday's rush into risk assets ahead of tonight's US presidential election, with gains capped by weak US futures and a downbeat quarterly update from market heavyweight CBA.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was dead flat at 5251, more than 30 points below below the session peak of 5282. After yesterday pre-empting a strong overnight session on Wall Street, the ASX showed little appetite for further gains before the US election. Rises in metals & mining +1.9%, energy +1.6% and materials +1.4% were largely offset by declines in financials -0.8%, gold -0.5% and utilities -0.1%.

The fall in the financial sector followed a Q1 update from CBA that fell short of expectations due to higher funding costs. Analysts said this round of quarterly reports from the big four banks continued a pattern of weakness from the last financial year.

"CBA has capped off a subdued bank profit reporting season with a glimpse into the current financial year for the major banks," AFR Chanticleer columnist Michael Smith told Fairfax. "All the signs point to a soft 12 months ahead... The CBA update is further evidence that the slowdown experienced in the second half of the 2016 financial year has continued into 2017. There is sustained pressure on margins and signs of weaker credit growth."

Most Asian markets delivered further gains on the back of a 2.22% surge on the S&P 500 overnight after the FBI cleared Hillary Clinton of any crimes involving her private email account. China's Shanghai Composite added 0.19% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.51%. Japan's Nikkei rolled over to a deficit of 0.2%. Dow futures were recently off 58 points or 0.32%.

“Markets are currently in the grip of a risk-seeking mood following the latest FBI news, which is perceived as raising the chances of a Clinton win,” Imre Speizer, market strategist at Westpac, told Bloomberg. “A Trump win would cause a major reversal of the recent moves, so markets will be mostly preoccupied by the election during the day ahead.”

Crude oil futures drifted six cents or 0.13% lower this morning to US$44.83 a barrel. Gold futures were $4.80 or 0.38% firmer at US$1,284.30 an ounce. The dollar was buying 77.05 US cents.


A marking-time session ahead of the election. The CBA update doused any appetite for a rally until we know who's helming the SS US for the next four years. Trading: had such a good day yesterday that today was bound to be an anti-climax. Can't get more anti-climactic than failing to find a trade.