The share market hit 'Pause' following four days of steady gains after the unveiling of President Trump's tax plan failed to inspire fresh highs on Wall Street overnight.
At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was up four points or less than 0.1% at 5916 after a morning locked in a tight 11-point trading range. Gains in gold stocks +1%, industrials +0.6% and financials +0.5% were mostly cancelled by declines in energy -2.2%, telecoms -0.7% and consumer staples -0.6%.
Regional markets moved lower after modest losses in the US overnight. China's Shanghai Composite gave up 1.02%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.17% and Japan's Nikkei 0.24%. Dow futures were recently ahead by 17 points or 0.08%.
"Having bought the rumour, US investors sold after the unveiling of President Trump's tax plan," CMC Markets' Chief Market Strategist Michael McCarthy told CNBC. "Although the initial response was positive... the looming market close sparked a minor panic." The S&P 500 eased to a loss of 0.05%.
Crude oil futures declined 22 cents or 0.44% this morning to US$49.40 a barrel. Gold futures rallied $3.70 or 0.3% to US$1,267.90 an ounce. The dollar was buying 74.85 US cents.
Not a huge surprise to see markets take a rest overnight. The Trump tax plan was well telegraphed. Possibility of a mild retrace from here. Standard wave movements. Trading: tougher day than yesterday. Took a pip and a half from TAW. Also took ZLD to see if the bulls can push it back to 12c.
