daytrading sep 7 afternoon

Thanks Endless.

Half-time round-up:

Australian shares touched a one-week high this morning but failed to keep pace with rallies across Asia as the big banks pared gains.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was ahead 16 points or 0.4% at 4329 after running as high as 4358 in early trade. The metals & mining sector led the advance, rising 2.1%, followed by materials +1.8%, industrials +1.4% and gold +1%. The financials sector was down 0.2% after giving up initial gains.

Asian markets were more enthusiastic about overnight developments in Europe and the US, where the European Central Bank unveiled a massive sovereign bond-buying program and US jobs figures topped expectations. Shanghai surged 2.74%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 1.87% and Japan's Nikkei 1.75. Dow futures were recently up 11 points or 0.1%.

The trade deficit doubled in July as iron ore and coal exports declined. The deficit increased from a revised $227 million in June to $556 million, the ABS said this morning. Exports fell 3% and imports 1%. A separate report recorded the 27th straight month of contraction in construction activity. The August reading was the weakest in 12 months.

Crude oil futures bounced 26 cents this morning to US$94.90 a barrel. Spot gold slumped $9.70 to US$1,693.10 an ounce. The dollar was buying $US1.03.


I guess we should be used to it by now, but still this morning's XJO performance is very disappointing relative to the advances on any other significant equity market. Hope no one got caught at the highs. Wouldn't surprise to see us finish red, the way the day is developing. Never easy to find trades when the market opens big and then fades. All I have to show for the morning is a lousy part-fill in FAR where brokerage will likely outweigh any profit.