daytrading sep 25 afternoon

Thanks Endless.

Half-time round-up:

Weak resource stocks dragged the Australian share market lower for a second day despite gains in Japan and US futures this morning.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was down nine points or 0.2% at 4376 as rallies in the big banks and telecoms were outweighed by declines in miners, small caps and most of the defensive sectors.

Asian markets were mixed, with exporters losing ground after a fifth straight monthly decline in German business confidence underlined concerns about deterioration in the global economy. Shanghai eased 0.09%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng eased 0.08% and Japan's Nikkei advanced 0.29%. Dow futures were recently up 27 points or 0.2%.

"The German data is just the latest sign of a global slowdown and is likely to drag on the market today," a senior market analyst at Monex in Japan told Reuters. "This lends support to the thesis that the weaker growth outlook is spreading to the EU core."

The Reserve Bank this morning reaffirmed its faith in the strength of the Australian banking system, despite the European sovereign debt crisis and global economic slowdown. "The Australian banking system remains well placed to cope with shocks from abroad," the RBA said in its twice-yearly Financial Stability Review. Read more here.

Crude oil futures rallied 29 cents this morning to US$92.32 a barrel. Spot gold was $2 softer at US$1,765.10 an ounce. The dollar was buying $US1.0444.


Commiserations to holders of GNS. Grim outcome. Been a good trading stock over the years. The US dollar has come of a bit, which might explain why US futures are so upbeat. The XJO on the other hand is stuck in a tight 10-point trading band and has shown no intention of breaking in either direction. Slow morning here but profitable thanks to scalps in PRR and ARI.