Thanks Jim and morning crew. Glad all is well, Oscar.
Half-time round-up:
The ASX opened a new month with a gentle rebound from two days of selling as Chinese economic data showed continued strength.
At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was 19 points or more than 0.3% firmer at 5640, with the metals & mining sector +1.2%, gold +1% and telecoms +1% leading the way. The index fell during January for the first time in three months as investors took profits from the so-called 'Trump rally'.
Supporting sentiment this morning was a round of solid Chinese economic figures. The official manufacturing index came in at 51.3 last month, down from 51.4 in December but ahead of expectations for a deeper dip to 51.2. The services PMI improved to 54.6 from a December read of 54.5. The Shanghai Composite remained closed this morning for Lunar New Year holidays. Japan's Nikkei edged up 0.02%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slumped 1.07% as trading resumed.
Dow futures declined two points or 0.01%. The bluechip index fell 0.54% overnight amid ongoing weakness in the greenback as a Trump spokesman talked it down.
"The travel ban continued to weigh on US sentiment this week, whilst Trump lashed out at China, Japan and Germany, accusing them of devaluing their currencies at the dispense of the US economy," Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at ThinkMarkets, told CNBC.
Crude oil futures shed eight cents or 0.15% this morning to US$52.73 a barrel. Gold futures firmed 80 cents or 0.12% to US$1,212.20 an ounce. The dollar was buying 75.69 US cents.
Tricky morning. Profit warnings are dribbling in at one-to-two per day and the latest quarterlies seem to have fuelled more selling than buying. (Quarterly reporting season tends to be sobering for the speculative end of the market because a lot of management rhetoric is exposed for wishful thinking. Fortunately it only takes a day or two for collective amnesia to set in, then everyone goes back to talking up the blue sky ahead. Wey-hey!) Trading: caught the early buying opp in AHY, then took an intraday speculator in NOR. Missed the re-entry opp in IIL - strewth, it's a wild one.
