daytrading may 1 pre-market

Morning traders.

Market wrap:

Shares are likely to open little changed after another record close on Wall Street was offset by a soft session for oil and industrial metals.

The June SPI 200 futures contract ended the night four points or 0.1% ahead at 5172 as the S&P 500 wrapped up its sixth straight winning month with a rise of four points or 0.28% overnight. The US index's monthly win streak is the longest since 2009.

A night of mixed economic news and corporate earnings saw the Dow inch up 21 points or 0.14% and the Nasdaq rise 0.66% as tech stocks outperformed. Apple was the principal difference between the indexes, jumping 2.94% after outlining a US$17 billion bond deal.

The gains came as the Federal Reserve began a two-day meeting that will conclude with a policy statement tonight. The European Central Bank holds a policy meeting tomorrow night that is tipped to produce a cut to its benchmark rate.

"The market is at a high here and a lot of that seems to be driven by the faith in central bankers," a money manager at Bel Air Investment Advisors in the US told Bloomberg. "Later this week, you have central banker meetings, the Fed as well as the ECB."

The Bloomberg Economic Surprise Index, which measures the extent to which economic reports meet expectations, dropped to its lowest level in six months following another mixed round of reports overnight. Consumer confidence jumped sharply last month as rising stock prices and cheaper fuel helped offset the effects of the government "sequester". The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index improved 0.3% in February. A gauge of manufacturing in the greater Chicago region contracted for the first time in three and a half-years.

Oil traders found more to fret about than applaud in the night's US data. West Texas intermediate crude oil for June delivery was lately down $1.42 or 1.5% at US$93.08 a barrel. The price of oil eased 3.9% during April as an unexpected deterioration in US economic data weighed on commodity markets.

"The weak Chicago PMI has done nothing to buck the downbeat trend," a commodity analyst at Schneider Electric in the US told MarketWatch. "Contraction in this sector for the first time in 3½ years is overshadowing the better-than-expected consumer-confidence number, keeping crude prices further in check."

Gold ended its worst month since 2011 with a modest overnight gain, supported by a soft US dollar and expectations for this week's central bank meetings. Gold for June delivery was recently up $7.40 or 0.5% at US$1,474.80 an ounce. Despite recent gains, the metal's loss for the month was 7.8%.

Industrial metals turned lower as some traders cashed in on a recent rebound in prices ahead of this morning's Chinese manufacturing report. US copper for May delivery was recently off four cents or 1.1% at US$3.19 a pound. In London, copper lost 1.5%, aluminium 1.55%, lead 0.95%, nickel 0.9%, tin 2.6% and zinc 2.2%.

A big night of European economic news produced a mixed finish on the continent's major share markets. Germany's DAX rallied 0.51%, while France's CAC lost 0.3% and Britain's FTSE eased 0.53% after data showed euro-zone unemployment hit a record 12.1% in March, German consumer confidence topped expectations and retail sales dipped.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

WAITING FOR CHINA: Apologies for the number of times the word "mixed" occurred in the market summary, but it's a fair indicator to how the night played out. Wall Street found just enough positives to reverse an early dive. Our market may have to rely on the banks for any early gains after BHP lost 0.44% in US trade and Rio 0.5% ahead of this morning's April official Chinese factory report, due at 11am EST. That report will likely dictate how our market finishes the session. The March PMI showed an unexpected rebound to 50.9 following two months of deteriorating growth. Analysts expect today's reading to come in at 50.8, but recent results have shown greater deviation from forecasts, so anything is possible. The ASX will have to assess the impact for itself while the Shanghai Composite remains closed for a public holiday. Meanwhile, the speculative end of the market has burst back into life this week and should offer further opportunities today.

ECONOMIC NEWS: The AIG Manufacturing Index is due at 9.30am EST. Data on sales of new homes is also due today, exact time uncertain. The Chinese April PMI is scheduled for 11am. Tonight's US highlights include: ADP payrolls, final manufacturing report, ISM manufacturing PMI, construction spending, ISM Manufacturing Prices, crude oil inventories, vehicle Sales and the Federal Reserve funds rate and policy statement.

Good luck to all.