Morning traders. Thanks loungers. Shout-out to @Ravgnome - hope things are improving up north.
Outlook for the day: Modestly positive as bullish Wall Street momentum offsets weakness in key commodities.
ASX futures: up 6 points or 0.08%
Overnight themes:
US stocks add to seven weeks of gains amid optimism about interest rate cuts.
The Dow edges up less than a point to a fourth straight record high. The S&P 500 finishes a little more than 1% off its January 2022 closing peak.
The Nasdaq logs an eighth straight gain as Facebook owner Meta Platforms and Google parent company Alphabet put on at least 2.4%.
"It's a carry-over from the seven-week advance that we’ve seen, reflecting the confirmation by the Fed that they are likely finished raising rates and that they will start to cut interest rates at least by the second quarter of 2024" - Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist of CFRA Research (per Reuters).
The market shrugs off Federal Reserve efforts to rein in rates expectations. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester says the market has got "a little bit ahead" of the central bank regarding the timing and scale of cuts next year. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee says he was "confused" by the market reaction to the last central bank meeting. The Fed is not committed to cutting rates soon or quickly, he adds.
The rally is led by communication services (Meta, Alphabet) +1.89%, consumer staples +1.08%, consumer discretionary +0.79% and energy +0.76%. Crude prices rally overnight as Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping threaten to disrupt supply.
The rate-sensitive utilities and real estate sectors retreat as US treasury yields tick higher following hawkish comments from Fed officials.
The week ahead is back-loaded with potentially market-moving US economic data. Gross domestic product figures land on Thursday, followed by an inflation report on Friday.
Iron ore prices slide to their lowest in more than a month as hopes for major China stimulus measures diminish. China-traded ore drops 1.59% to US$130.09 a metric ton. Coking coal, coke and steel also declined.
Copper falls further from this month's four-month high as weak demand signals from China outweigh the possibility of supply disruptions due to weak production guidance from Anglo American and a cloud over the Cobre mine in Panama.
Key events today:
Minutes from this month's RBA monetary policy meeting - 11.30 am AEDT
US housing starts, building permits - tonight
S&P 500: up 21 points or 0.45%
Dow: up 1 point or 0.00%
Nasdaq: up 91 points or 0.61%
Dollar: up 0.08% to 67.03 US cents
Iron ore (Dalian): down 1.59% to US$130.09
Brent crude: up US$1.40 or 1.83% to US$77.95
Gold: up US$4.80 or 0.23% to US$2,040.50
NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: up 0.7%
Bitcoin: up 0.94% to US$42,296
Copper (LME): down 0.92% to US$8,470
Nickel (LME): down 3.89% to US$16,425
Uranium: up 1.16% to US$88
Lithium carbonate (China spot): down 1.44% to US$14,441
