Day trading pre-market open March 1

Morning traders. Thanks loungers, especially @Ravgnome.


Outlook for the day: Positive as a new month gets underway following solid gains on Wall Street.

ASX futures: up 20 points or 0.26%


Overnight themes:

• US stocks extended gains in the final hour amid on-going buying interest in Artificial Intelligence tech stocks after January inflation data came in no worse than expected.
• The Nasdaq set the pace, rising 0.9% to its first record since 2021. Investors bought AI poster-child Nvidia, AMD and other AI chip-makers.
• The S&P 500 firmed 0.52%. The Dow was underwater for much of the session before a late rally of 0.12% averted a fourth straight loss.
• The odds on a June rate cut strengthened after January inflation figures increased in line with expectations. The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index rose 0.3%, but the annual increase of 2.4% was the smallest since February 2021 and lower than the 2.6% annual rate in December. The core annual inflation rate declined to 2.8% from 2.9% in December.
• “This morning’s data is a sigh of relief for bulls, who were worried inflation was going to re-accelerate and cause the Fed to put off rate hikes for a much longer time — or even worse, begin raising rates again” - Independent Advisor Alliance chief investment officer Chris Zaccarelli.
• In other data, first-time claims for unemployment benefits ticked up to 215,000 last week, beating expectations for a total of 210,000. Pending home sales unexpectedly declined 4.9% last month as higher mortgage rates cooled demand.
• Tech, mining and rate-sensitive sectors outperformed as US treasury yields retreated. Tech gained 1.3%, real estate 0.91% and materials 0.82%. The healthcare sector declined 0.68%. Consumer staples eased 0.27%.
• Nickel climbed to its highest in three-and-a-half months amid speculation prices had found a floor after pricing weakness triggered a wave of mining shutdowns. London prices collapsed 45% last year as Indonesia flooded the market with new production. Overnight, the metal touched a level last seen on November 10.
• "People are asking, is the cost floor high enough now, have we reached a floor in nickel? It does feel like the super bearish narrative is being challenged" - Dan Smith, head of research at Amalgamated Metal Trading (per Reuters).
• Five days of gains for Chinese lithium carbonate helped lift US-listed green metal miners to a six-week high overnight. The Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF rallied 3.5%. Lithium prices have improved over the last week as environmental inspections in China raised the possibility of supply disruptions.

Key events today:

• China manufacturing/services PMIs - 12.30 pm AEDT
• US revised consumer sentiment, manufacturing PMI - tonight

S&P 500: up 27 points or 0.52%

Dow: up 47 points or 0.12%

Nasdaq: up 144 points or 0.9%

Dollar: up 0.09% to 65 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): down 0.17% to US$124

Brent crude: down 6 US cents or 0.07% to US$83.62

Gold: up US$12 or 0.6% to US$2,054.70

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: up 2.56%

Bitcoin: up 1.68% to US$61,325

Copper (LME): up 0.36% to US$8,478.50

Nickel (LME): up 0.82% to US$17,840

Uranium (spot price): steady at US$95.50

Lithium carbonate (China spot): up 1.54% to US$13,811

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: up 3.51%

BHP: up 0.44% (US); up 1.11% (UK)

Rio Tinto: up 0.89% (US); up 0.73% (UK)