daytrading april 11 pre-market

Morning traders.

Market wrap:

Shares are set to gap higher this morning after Wall Street's best night in six weeks propelled the S&P 500 to a record close.

The June SPI 200 futures rallied 38 points or 0.8% to 5002 as cyclical stocks led a "risk on" session on world markets.

All 10 S&P 500 sector groups advanced as the benchmark index finally eclipsed its 2007 all-time high. The index piled on 19 points or 1.24% to end the night at 1,588, obliterating the old mark of 1,576 set on October 11, 2007. The Dow put on 129 points or 0.88% and the Nasdaq added 1.83% as tech stocks soared.

"After we broke above the high, we saw momentum accelerate as investors saw it as a release of resistance," the chief market technician at MKM Partners in the US told Reuters. "By definition, there is no more resistance for the S&P now that we're at new highs."

The gains came after yesterday's trade data soothed fears over Chinese domestic demand and policymakers around the world reiterated their commitment to stimulus programs. The minutes from the last US Federal Reserve meeting, released prematurely due to an administrative error, set no alarm bells ringing, while key officials in Japan and Europe re-affirmed their intention to continue to inject liquidity into the marketplace. The minutes from the March Fed meeting showed debate over ending the central bank's bond-buying program before the end of the year, but analysts said the discussion had been superseded by last week's dire monthly jobs report, the softest in nine months.

Cyclical stocks, seen as leading indicators for the market, resumed their place at the head of the pack. The Dow Jones Transportation Average charged 1.79% and the Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index stacked on 1.55%. The Russell 2000 index of small caps, another traditional measure of risk appetite, advanced 1.8%.

Gains on European markets were even more impressive after Europe's troika of international lenders recommended extending rescue packages in place for Ireland and Portugal. Germany's DAX surged 2.27%, France's CAC 2%, Britain's FTSE 1.17%, Italy's FTSE MIB 3.19% and Spain's IBEX 35 3.35%. Portugal's PSI 10 index soared 4.35%, while Ireland's ISEQ 20 index rallied 1.84%.

Commodity markets were less exuberant, with oil edging higher but most metals losing ground. West Texas intermediate crude for May delivery was lately up 33 cents or 0.35% at US$94.52 a barrel for its third straight gain, despite news that the OPEC oil cartel has cuts its global oil-demand forecast for the second time in two months. Read more here.

Gold suffered its heaviest fall in five months as a rising US dollar added to pressure from a downgraded price outlook from Goldman Sachs, debate within the Fed over ending its stimulus program this year and news that Cyprus will sell some reserves to fund its bailout plan. Gold for June delivery was lately down $28.90 or 1.8% at US$1,557.90 an ounce.

Base metals were unsettled by weak Chinese copper imports. Although yesterday's headline imports number was strong, copper imports were down 30% on the same time last year. US copper for May delivery was recently down two cents or 0.6% at US$3.42 a pound. In late trade in London, copper was off 0.8%, aluminium 0.3% and nickel 0.1%. Lead added 1.1%, tin 0.1% and zinc 0.2%.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

JOBS REPORT: A boom night on world markets should ensure the ASX gets off to a flying start this morning, despite a few cracks on commodity markets overnight. After that, much will depend on the volatile 11.30am EST monthly employment report. Last month's unexpected 71,500 surge in new positions is not expected to be repeated: speculation among economists hovers around a loss of about 6,700 positions, according to Forex Factory. The jobless rate is expected to hold steady at 5.4%. There were promising signs of confidence returning to the share market yesterday after last week's short, sharp shock. Today should continue the rehabilitation process.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Inflation expectations are due at 11am EST, followed by monthly employment change figures and unemployment rate at 11.30am. A light week for US data continues tonight with weekly jobless claims, import prices and natural gas storage.

Good luck to all.