Thanks Brit, Endless and anyone else who helped get a morning...

Thanks Brit, Endless and anyone else who helped get a morning thread underway.


Half-time round-up:

The ASX 200 dipped below 5000 this morning for only the second time in two years and is on track for its fourth weekly loss in five weeks.

At 1pm EST the benchmark index was trading seven points or 0.15% lower at 5020 after earlier falling as low as 4996 and rising as high as 5069. Despite the swings, the index remained on track to close more than 200 points below last Friday's close at 5264.

Utilities was the best of the sectors, rising 1.1%. Also strong were metals & mining +0.8%, IT +0.7%, materials +0.7% and health +0.5%. The financials sector dipped 0.8%.

"This follows on from yesterday's market action, where despite a generally firm tone to international equity markets our market was sold off with major bank stocks finishing on their low as sellers took charge," CMC chief market analyst Ric Spooner told Fairfax.

The early market mood was not helped by weak US futures. Dow futures were recently down 73 points or 0.45% amid fears that tonight's jobs data may push the Federal Reserve towards a rate increase this month. Japan's Nikkei fell 1.12%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng  rose 0.38%. China's Shanghai Composite was closed for a public holiday.

Crude oil futures cents eased 20 cents this morning to US$46.55 a barrel. Spot gold was flat at US$1,124.50 an ounce. The dollar was buying 69.78 US cents.


Well the index tested support all right, but the rebound is being held back by the falling dollar. Wrong day for market heroics with the US jobs report due tonight. Trading: no joy for me this morning. Annoyed at missing the gap fill in 1PG - that was tailor-made for my approach but I was too busy at the time trying to work out why SVW was so weak (answer: analyst downgrade from the Vampire Squid). Bought SVW before discovering the cause - currently underwater. Tentative first position in UBN, which has virtually halved in six sessions, suggesting good potential for a brief, sharp relief rally when the seller finally runs out of ammo. Volume is rising - good sign - but today may be a day or two early. Wanted DUO a pip lower, so no buy. Been an okay week, but this morning's work may put a dent in profits.