daytrading oct 5 pre-market

Morning traders.

Market wrap:

The share market is shooting for a seventh day of gains after US economic news topped forecasts and the European Central Bank reassured investors it stands ready to act.

The December SPI 200 futures contract ended the night session 11 points or 0.3% stronger at 4471 as traders speculated that the ASX yesterday pre-empted most of Wall Street's overnight gains.

The S&P 500 rallied 0.69% for its fourth straight advance, led by its commodity and and financial sectors. The Dow put on 80 points or 0.6% and the Nasdaq added 0.44%.

Optimism over tonight's monthly government jobs report increased after weekly jobless claims rose less than expected last week. First-time claims edged up to 367,000 from 363,000 the previous week. Economists had tipped a bigger rise to 370,000. The monthly factory orders report also deteriorated less than expected, showing a fall of 5.2% in August. Economists had forecast a 5.9% decline.

"I've become even more optimistic in the last week," the director of investments at Hinsdale Associates in the US told MarketWatch. "Some of the economic data is getting better, with manufacturing and the whole Fed-ECB stimulus underlying the entire market — that gives us some cushion."

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the bank was ready to launch its "unlimited" bond-buying program but it was up to national governments to initiate the process by requesting assistance. The bank left its key lending rate unchanged, as did the Bank of England.

European markets saw little in the ECB press conference to move the market. Germany's DAX eased 0.23%, France's CAC lost 0.15% and Britain's FTSE gained 0.04%.

"Draghi didn't say anything new this time around," a senior European economist at RBC Capital Markets told MarketWatch. "He only made clear that the ball is firmly in the courts of politicians — and very much [Spanish Prime Minister Mariano] Rajoy's court... The ECB still has a huge amount of resources it can deploy, but it's not prepared to do so."

Currency traders were more enthused by events in Europe, driving the euro higher and the US dollar down, easing pressure on dollar-denominated commodities. Oil reversed yesterday's sharp decline as hostilities along the Syrian-Turkish border ratcheted up tensions in the Middle East. Crude for November delivery was lately up $3.41 or 3.9% at US$91.55 a barrel.

Gold hit an 11-month high as the greenback sagged. Gold for December delivery was recently up $12.50 or 0.7% at US$1,792.30 an ounce. December silver rallied 35 cents or 1% to US$35.04 an ounce.

Volumes and volatility in industrial metals remained depressed by the absence of Chinese buyers during a week-long national holiday. US copper for December delivery inched up 0.1% or less than a cent to US$3.79 a pound. In London, copper advanced 0.1%, aluminium 0.1%, nickel 0.8% and tin 0.9%. Zinc retreated 0.9% and lead lost 0.7%.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

LUCKY SEVEN? With central banks breathing wind in their sails, global markets keep sailing on. Anyone know the last time the XJO rallied for seven straight days? I'd be interested to hear. Of course, we're not there yet. Fridays have traditionally been days for taking profits ahead of the weekend, but a cursory glance at the charts shows that has hardly held true lately. The last four have been positive. The XJO is through resistance but the XAO has another 30 odd points to travel. The overnight rally in the US was broad, lifting all sectors, but the standouts were financials and resources - another hopeful portent for today's trade here.

ECONOMIC NEWS: The construction index is due at 9.30am EST. The Bank of Japan has a rate decision and press conference today. Europe has GDP and German factory orders tonight. The main interest in the US is the monthly non-farm employment change report and unemployment rate.

Good luck to all.