DT January 16 afternoon

Thanks Oscar and morning crew.


Half-time round-up:

Shares rallied for the first time in three sessions as gains in commodity prices offset weakness on regional equity markets.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was 28 points or 0.5% firmer at 5750, led by gains in gold stocks +1.9%, metals & mining +1.4%, utilities +1.2% and materials +1.2%.

"Australian investors are likely to enjoy a better day as commodity prices are generally higher, supporting resource shares and adding positive weight to the short term outlook for the AUD," CMC chief market strategist Michael McCarthy told Fairfax. The dollar was lately hovering just below 75 US cents, buying 74.88 US cents.

The market ignored soft US equity futures ahead of tonight's Martin Luther King market holiday in the US. Dow futures were recently down 36 points or 0.18% following reports that the UK will turn its back on the single European Union market. British Prime Minister Theresa May is due to deliver a speech tomorrow night outlining her plans.

“The market is now positioning for some fairly punchy rhetoric from Theresa May and this idea of hard Brexit and a clean break from the single market seems increasingly likely,” Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG, told Bloomberg.  “The prospect of volatility here is now very high.”

Asian markets lost ground. China's Shanghai Composite gave up 0.74%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.78% and Japan's Nikkei 0.76%.

Crude oil futures rose 10 cents or 0.19% this morning to US$52.47 a barrel. Gold futures were $4.50 or 0.38% brighter at US$1,200.70 an ounce.


No US trade tonight, so the ASX is taking a chance on playing its own game despite weakness in Asia. Tomorrow might be slow unless Europe tanks tonight, but there should be action on Wednesday after May's speech and as Wall Street positions itself for the inauguration. Gold attracting some haven buying in anticipation? Trading: only one trade so far, but a good 'un. BUD off the low.