daytrading sep 25 pre-market

Morning traders.

Market wrap:

Stocks face a flat start after weak global economic data and European debt squabbles gave US traders an excuse to take profits for a third night.

The December SPI 200 futures contract ended the night session two points or less than 0.1% weaker at 4396 as strength in the greenback pushed oil and metals lower overnight and iron ore eased again yesterday.

US stocks, underwater for most of the session, closed in the middle of their trading ranges after a recovery in banks. The S&P 500 lost 0.22% during its third straight decline. The Dow gave up 20 points or 0.15% and the Nasdaq sagged 0.6% as sales of Apple's iPhone 5 fell short of some projections.

"Markets seem to have lost momentum," a spokesman for 7 Investment Management in London told Bloomberg. "Franco-German bickering over regulation, Chinese growth, employment unrest have given investors reason to take short term profits."

Wall Street took its lead from declines on European markets and much of Asia after disunity over plans for an overseer for Europe's banking sector was underlined by a public disagreement between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande on the weekend. Greece dismissed reports a budget shortfall will block it from accessing further bailout funds. Also weighing on sentiment was a fifth straight monthly drop in German business confidence and a more downbeat outlook from a survey of Chinese employers.

Germany's DAX retreated 0.52% overnight, France's CAC 0.96% and Britain's FTSE 0.23%. Yesterday in Asia, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.45% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.19% but Shanghai shook off initial weakness to rally 0.31%.

The third-quarter earnings season in the US is slowly cranking into action with mixed early results, according to MarketWatch. Growth appears to be slowing but fewer companies are lowering their fourth-quarter outlooks.

A renewal of European concerns sapped enthusiasm for the euro, which in turn lifted the US dollar and pressured oil and metals. West Texas crude for November delivery hit a seven-week low, recently down 85 cents or 0.9% at US$92.03 a barrel. The decline extended losses following its worst week since June.

Industrial metals suffered weak demand ahead of a week-long national holiday in China. US copper for December delivery was recently down five cents or 1.2% at US$3.74 a pound. In London, copper reversed 1.15%, aluminium 1.6%, lead 1.2%, nickel 1.1%, tin 0.6% and zinc 0.9%.

Rio Tinto lost 2.45% in US trade and BHP gave up 0.81% after a 1.9% decline in spot iron ore yesterday. Ore delivered to Qingdao in China eased US$2.06 to US$106.20 but remained well above this month's lows.

Gold declined amid profit-taking after a five-week advance. Gold for December delivery was lately down $10.90 or 0.6% at US$1,767.10 an ounce.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

TREADING WATER: Markets are going nowhere in a hurry right now, continuing to consolidate recent advances while waiting for a new impetus. It's not very exciting but it does extend the most benign trading conditions on the ASX in more than a year. If you're making good money just now, bear in mind that you're benefitting from unusually low market volatility and a nice outbreak of bullishness among the specs. We're nearly three-quarters of the way through the year and I can count the number of "tin hats" calls made on this thread on one hand. That's highly unusual. Banks, defensive sectors and stocks that benefit from a lower oil price provided the best of the overnight moves in the US. An index of gold/silver miners slumped 3.14%.

ECONOMIC NEWS: The Reserve Bank releases its biannual Financial Stability Review at 11.30am EST. A leading index of Chinese economic indicators is due at noon but usually has limited impact on equity markets. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is due to address a German business event tonight. Highlights in the US include consumer confidence, rival house price indexes, the Richmond Manufacturing Index and a speech by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.

Good luck to all.