The S&P/ASX 200 opened lower and remained low until the ABS unemployment figures were released at 11.30, and now after midday is up slightly, 2 points or 0.05% to 4607 points.
Other Asian markets are mixed, with the Nikkei 225 losing 0.1% at 10072 points, and the Hang Seng up 0.4% at 22,599 points.
Other risk assets are up, with the AUD responding positively to the unemployment figures, now at 1.0755 against the USD, whilst gold shoots higher to $1528 USD an ounce. WTI crude is up 0.65% at $97.28 USD per barrel.
Movers and Shakers
It’s mixed across the board. The miners are retracing whilst the four major banks are mixed. CBA and NAB are up 0.2% and .5% respectively, whilst ANZ and WBC are down 0.4% and 0.1%
BHP is down 0.2%, at $44.33 and RIO steady at $83.50
In other ASX200 stocks, Gunns (GNS) is the biggest mover, up nearly 4%, whilst Bradken (BKN) is also up 3% alongside Cabcharge (CAB).
The losers include ARB Corp (ARP) down 3.5%, News Corp (NWS) down just over 3% and Nexus posting similar losses.
Daily Chart
The daily chart shows continued significant resistance at or about 4600 points since the channel breakout. The 260 day WMA (grey line) is the pivot point of the current market activity (and the next target in any rally). The 15 day moving average (green line) is slowing down – a close below this level will be a red flag to short selling trend traders.
So far, this is a very weak rally, although buoyed somewhat by the “good” unemployment numbers today, as we keep heading along into a very strong data week with the all important US employment figures this week.
All major companies and sectors are experiencing weak rebound rallies with no standouts, except in the carbon-sensitive sectors. Renewable energy stocks are experiencing heavy volume and price rises on anticipation of some final certainty on carbon prices. I’ll have a closer look at these stocks later.
ASX200 daily chart for six months - 260 day average in grey, 15 day average in green