Thanks Oscar and morning crew. Well done Mike for the...

Thanks Oscar and morning crew. Well done Mike for the pre-market.


Half-time round-up:

The ASX pushed through 5800 towards a second straight weekly again after shrugging off a mixed close on Wall Street overnight.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was 19 points or 0.3% stronger at 5804, within reach of the index's first close above 5800 in more than three weeks. The index cracked the 5800 milestone on January 9 for the first time since May 2015, but has struggled to push higher.

The gold sector led the latest assault, rising 1.6%. Also strong: financials +0.7%, industrials +0.6% and IT +0.6%. The biggest drags were consumer staples -0.4%, energy -0.3% and telecoms -0.3%.

Overnight, the S&P 500 gave up 0.16% as post-rate hike euphoria dissipated. The Dow lost 0.07%, but the Nasdaq edged up 0.01%.

“We were very excited yesterday because the Fed was less hawkish than we had thought, and that boosted the market,” Karyn Cavanaugh, senior market strategist at Voya Financial, told MarketWatch. “That euphoria has worn off. The market realises it may have gotten a little ahead of itself.”

This morning, China's Shanghai Composite added 0.06% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.01% in early trade. Japan's Nikkei shed 0.37%. Dow futures were recently ahead three points or 0.01%.

Crude oil futures rebounded 13 cents or 0.27% this morning to US$48.88 a barrel. Gold futures declined 70 cents or 0.06% to US$1,226.40 an ounce. The dollar was buying 76.77 US cents.


XJO on its third attempt at the 5800 level and a good chance at going through, according to a technical analysis theory I've found useful over the years. Yet another failure at this level would be a worry. Trading: in a week rich with opportunities, I nailed far too few. It happens and always feels worst when it's raining money and you couldn't catch a cold. Modest return this morning from MTC and a nervous quickie in SCU.