Daytrading September 11 afternoon

Thanks Globe Trader and morning regulars.


Half-time round-up:

Australian shares inched towards a winning close to the week after upbeat US equity futures helped soothe nerves following another dive on the index this morning.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was trading 11 points or 0.2% ahead at 5106 and in repair mode after shedding as much as 41 points in early trade. The index was on course to close well above last Friday's finish at 5041 at the end of a volatile week when it swung through a trading range of 248 points.

Utilities topped the sector gains with a rise of 0.7%. Also trading higher were metals & mining +0.6%, financials +0.6% and the Small Ords +0.5%. Gold -1.1% and energy -0.5% performed worst.

The market mood improved as US stocks shrugged off a mixed morning across Asia. Dow futures were recently ahead 74 points or almost 0.5%. China's Shanghai Composite was up 0.28%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ahead by 1.38% and Japan's Nikkei down 0.05%.

“Markets have been wild and fear is still near its zenith,” Tim Shirata, executive vice president at Guild Investment Management in the US, told Bloomberg. “Pessimism about China and the world economic outlook is widespread, and optimism about continued economic growth in the US is declining. We hold a lot of cash, and are waiting patiently for opportunities to invest it.”

Crude oil futures retreated 10 cents this morning to US$45.82 a barrel. Spot gold was $2.70 firmer at US$1,112 an ounce. The dollar was buying 70.72 US cents.


Nice swing reversal in play. Not sure why US futures are so firm - might be a patriotic 9/11 anniversary thing? Seem to recall that effect playing out to some extent in previous years. Trading: hairy morning here thanks to the wild swings in TNG. Traded the first bounce well, gave myself a big pat on the back and promptly went back in to soon on the second slump. Need a decent recovery to get out with a shirt. Got to be a price query coming, if not this arvo then first thing tomorrow. At the more sedate end of the market, took ANN for a rebound that has been slow to start but seems to be gaining momentum. Been waiting for weeks for LNG to reach $2 support but failed to execute when it got there - will don dunce's cap at 4pm and stand in corner.