MARKET TALK: S&P/ASX 200 Down 1%; Nervous Before China PMI

1st Jul 2010 01:34

0034 GMT [Dow Jones] S&P/ASX 200 down 1.0% at 4260.2 in nervous trading before China PMI manufacturing data at 0100 GMT. Index hit early low of 4250.2, holding Wednesday's low at 4249.5. Most sectors are down on the back of U.S. peer weakness, with major banks down 0.8%-1.2%, Macquarie (MQG.AU) down 2.2%, BHP (BHP.AU) down 1.8%, Rio Tinto (RIO.AU) down 2.5%, Origin Energy (ORG.AU) down 1.4%. Property trusts bucking the trend, with Stockland (SGP.AU) up 1.1%. "Clearly there continues to be investor uncertainty," says Martin Lakos, division director at Macquarie Private Wealth. "Global economic data have been very mixed and until we see some clear trends in the data, that's going to keep markets nervous. But in Australia, this is our eigth down day in a row and I think it's starting to get oversold." Expects S&P/ASX 200 to recover some of its early fall again today, provided China PMI data no worse than expected. ([email protected]) Contact us in Singapore. 65 64154 140; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 30, 2010 20:34 ET (00:34 GMT)