Day trading pre-market open March 15

Morning traders. Thanks loungers, especially @Ravgnome.


Outlook for the day: Negative after Wall Street wilts under a "hot" inflation report, and a rising greenback pressures commodity prices.

ASX futures: down 59 points or 0.76%


Overnight themes:

• US stocks fall as "hot" wholesale inflation figures send treasury yields higher as traders reassess how many interest rate cuts may come this year.
• The major indices lose between 0.29% and 0.35%. Rate-sensitive sectors lead the declines. Chip stocks also weigh.
• Small caps cop the worst of the sell-off. The Russell 2000 index loses 2.37%.
• Producer prices increase more than expected last month, sharpening fears that a revival of inflation will delay rate cuts. The producer price index rises 0.6%, twice as much as economists predicted. Core PPI increased by 0.3%, also ahead of forecast.
• A separate report shows retail sales expanded 0.6% last month, less than the 0.8% increase economists expected.
• The yield on 10-year US treasuries climbs almost 10 basis points to its highest in two weeks. Gold drops 0.6%. The Australian dollar falls 0.7% as the greenback surges on the "higher-rates-for longer" narrative.
• “The questions now are, will traders rethink how soon the Fed will cuts rates, and will that slow down the stock market rally in any meaningful way?” - Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley (per CNBC).
• AI chip-maker Nvidia declines 3.24%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index sheds 1.75%.
• The rate-sensitive real estate and utilities sectors lose 1.61% and 0.81%, respectively. Also weak: financials -0.71% and materials -0.55%.
• The only S&P sectors to log gains are energy +1.1% and communication services +0.55%.
• Iron ore's week-long decline continues with prices in China falling to their lowest since August. The most active contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange drops 2.62%. Ore prices have fallen 17% since last month's Lunar New Year holiday.
• Bitcoin slides more than 5.5% to below US$70,000 after hitting an all-time high at US$73,798 per coin.
• Oil rallies after the International Energy Agency raises its demand forecast for this year. Brent crude climbs 1.7% to its highest since the first week of November.

Key events today:

• China new home prices - 12.30 pm AEDT
• US preliminary consumer sentiment, Empire State Manufacturing Index - tonight

S&P 500: down 15 points or 0.29%

Dow: down 138 points or 0.35%

Nasdaq: down 49 points or 0.3%

Dollar: down 0.71% to 65.8 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): down 2.62% to US$110.94

Brent crude: up US$1.39 or 1.7% to US$85.42

Gold: down US$13.30 or 0.6% to US$2,167.50

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: down 1.29%

Bitcoin: down 5.65% to US$69,313

Copper (LME): down 0.17% to US$8,912

Nickel (LME): down 1.12% to US$18,160

Uranium (spot price): up 0.43% to US$84.75

Lithium carbonate (China spot): up 1.05% to US$16,614

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: down 2.45%

BHP: down 1.44% (US); down 1.01% (UK)

Rio Tinto: down 1.77% (US); down 1.27% (UK)