daytrades july 27 afternoon

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    Thanks Endless. Half-time round-up:

    The dollar jumped to a new record and shares turned sharply south this morning as above-target inflation likely ruled out any near-term interest rate cut.

    At lunchtime the ASX 200 was 15 points or 0.3% weaker at 4558 after the 11.30 am release of June-quarter inflation raised concerns about the impact of the strong dollar on future company earnings. Most sectors were trading in the red, but industrials +0.4%, gold +0.3% and consumer staples +0.3% were among a handful to buck the downtrend.

    The Australian dollar surged around a cent to a new post-float high of $US 1.1062 as traders increased their bets on further interest rate rises to curb inflation. The Aussie was recently buying US $1.1034.

    The consumer price index increased by 0.9% last quarter, boosting the annual rate from 3.3% to 3.6% - well outside the Reserve Bank's 2-3% target band. Price rises in fruit, petrol, furniture and medical expenses were among the key drivers, according to the ABS.

    "It suggests the direction of the next rate move is going to be up, even if there is some uncertainty about when the Reserve Bank might pull the trigger," Commonwealth Bank chief economist Michael Blythe told Fairfax. "We've been saying November and it could be before that, but there are plenty of global issues that will be concerning the Reserve Bank, which means they'll probably sit pat."

    In other economic news, ratings agency Fitch this morning cut Queensland's outlook to "negative" from "stable", citing the slow pace of recovery from natural disasters and a challenging environment.

    Asian markets began the morning weak but trimmed initial losses. Japan's Nikkei was recently down 0.62%, Shanghai was up 0.1% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was near break-even at -0.01%. Dow futures were recently up 23 points or 0.2%.

    Crude oil futures added 3 cents this morning at US $99.27 a barrel. Spot gold was $1.10 stronger at US $1,620.90 an ounce.


    Plenty of green at the speccy end despite the overall market trending red. Not enough volatility for mine, making it hard to find the sort of quick scalps I favour. The dollar is going to start to hurt exporters. IAG has been good for a few points lately and looks like delivering again today. Also picked up a few GNI on the back-test of yesterday's breakout. Just missed MYG at 11c.
 
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