29/7/10 - 8.37am - by James Gerrish
Some profit taking last night in the US and Europe after data on Durable Goods Orders came in below expectations. The US had risen six straight sessions and in this type of environment some marginal weakness was not surprising.
Volume remained light across the board with all sectors finishing in the red. Its interesting to see that Healthcare was the weakest link down 1.1% on the session and if we look at the sectors performance over the last week, its been the biggest laggard showing a move away from the defensive space.
Last night the DOW JONES lost -39 points or -0.38% to close at 10497. Over in the UK the FTSE 100 lost -46 points or -0.86% to close at 5319. Right on its recent breakout level and close to the session lows.
Locally, SPI FUTURES are matching 18 points lower this morning.
Its was interesting last night to see that commodities were actually higher on the session with Copper leading the rise. There was some upbeat comments out of China about its rate of growth and this filtered through into the commodity producers. BHP was higher on the session and looks likely to test that $40.50 level at some stage today (hasn't been this high since April).
I'm starting to get a little concerned about the technical structures that are playing out in the price of Gold. Lower highs, a clear break of support at $1163 and our belief that funds are starting to flow from safe haven assets into risker exposures.
Options expiry today so volumes will be high.
