Daytrading September 30 afternoon

Thanks Brit and morning regulars. Thanks also for the support this morning KangarooJack, MajorJohnny, Aussiewebking and Trees.


Half-time round-up:

Australian shares joined a regional rebound this morning before paring gains as building approvals data disappointed.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was ahead by 61 points or 1.2% at 4979, 20 points below the session peak of 4999. The big banks and defensive sectors led the recovery from yesterday's two-year low: financials was last up 1.9%, telecoms 1.9%, property trusts 1.6% and consumer staples 1.6%. Metals & mining trailed at +1.4%.

The index briefly halved its advance after data showed building approvals slumped 6.9% last month, more than three times as much as analysts anticipated. Private sector credit increased by 0.6%, in line with expectations, according to a separate report.

US equity futures rose steadily with Asian markets. Dow futures were recently up 75 points or almost 0.5%. China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.25%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.88% and Japan's Nikkei 1.82%.

“Risk sentiment stabilised overnight after a rather torrid session in Asia [yesterday],” Raiko Shareef, markets strategist at Bank of New Zealand, told Bloomberg. “But the stabilisation in risk sentiment looks relatively tentative to us. We’d be wary of another deterioration in Asia today as funding costs spike in China ahead of a week-long holiday.”

Crude oil futures slid 45 cents this morning to US$44.78 a barrel. Spot gold was $1.50 weaker at US$1,125.30 an ounce. The dollar was buying 70.17 US cents.


A tentative recovery but in keeping with the maxim that bounces in downtrends are shallower than the sell-offs. There is a danger that the 5000 level that provided the XJO with support for a month will now act as overhead resistance. Trading: backed the wrong horse yesterday when I took BHP over Rio. The latter just about closed the gap this morning, while BHP couldn't top yesterday's high. Holding on for now, but disappointed that the overnight bounce has delivered so little. Got a couple of pips out of AWC's dip below $1.10. Less happily, picked up RAP on pullback and have yet to see a return.