Thanks Brit and morning regulars. Half-time round-up: Shares...

Thanks Brit and morning regulars.


Half-time round-up:

Shares snapped back from yesterday's two-year closing despite a downturn in US equity futures and a mixed morning on Asian markets.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was trading 48 points or 1% ahead at 5047 and well placed to pare the index's 170-point plunge through to yesterday's close, the weakest since July 2013. A broad rally was led by the property trusts sector +2.6%, gold +2.1%, industrials +1.4% and health +1.5%

This morning's recovery came as China's benchmark share index recovered from yesterday's dive and US equity futures hovered near neutral. China's Shanghai Composite lifted 0.52%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was lately off 0.64%. Japan's Nikkei was down 2.37% as it played catch-up after a three-day market holiday this week. Dow futures were recently off 44 points or almost 0.3% after giving up slender early gains.

"Investors will be cautious for the time being. Markets will become steadier only when uncertainties over Chinese economy and the US monetary policy diminish," Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management in Japan, told Reuters.

Crude oil futures rebounded 39 cents this morning to US$44.87 a barrel. Spot gold was $3.60 firmer at US$1,135.10 an ounce. The dollar was buying 69.96 US cents.


Nice counter-trend rally. The XJO chart still looks more likely to break lower than rebound to April levels, but at least we didn't fall down the lift-shaft this morning. One day at a time, sweet Jesus. Trading: some great bounce/swing opps this session. I took something from three of them in BRN, MOZ and SVW. Still holding BKN for at best a pip or two. Just got into AJM.