Thanks Endless. Half-time round-up:Australian shares advanced...

Thanks Endless.

Half-time round-up:

Australian shares advanced for the first day this week but pared early gains as trade and building data disappointed and US futures wallowed.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was nine points or 0.2% higher at 5216 but well below an opening high of 5231. Resource stocks were the biggest drag with the gold sector slumping 3.5% and metals & mining 0.8% following overnight declines in metals. Consumer discretionary was the best of the sectors, rising 1.2%, ahead of IT +1% and property trusts +0.8%. The rally followed a rebound on Wall Street overnight as stocks rose for only the second time in nine sessions despite the partial closure of the federal government.

"People see this is a short-term impact, but the key question is around the debt ceiling and that's what people are looking forward to," Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG Markets, told
Data released this morning showed housing activity declined in August and the trade deficit was worse than anticipated. Approvals for new homes dropped by 4.7%, versus market expectations for a fall of 1%. The August trade deficit was $815 million, better than the July reading of -$1.375 billion but below the consensus prediction of $450 million. Exports increased by 3%, imports by 1%.

US futures were stuck in the red as Japanese shares ignored the positive lead from Wall Street. Dow futures were recently down 19 points or more than 0.1%. Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.71%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng put on 0.86%. Shanghai remained closed for the Golden Week holiday.

Crude oil futures eased four cents this morning to US$101.60 a barrel. Spot gold firmed $5.10 to US$1,292.10 an ounce. The dollar was buying 93.66 US cents.


Endless called it about right this morning - good day to take profits on the early bounce, at the big end of the market at least. A power cut following yesterday afternoon's high winds on the east coast left me with a couple of overnight holds. The Wall Street rally offered the opportunity to clear CWN and TAH at a profit. Could have scrambled to another computer yesterday but the strength in US futures gave me the confidence to hold. Squeezed a few pips out of DML. Small speculator in PRR to go before day's end.