Day trading pre-market open July 19

Morning traders. Thanks @ttward and lounge lizards.

Overnight round-up and day ahead:

A late rally in US stocks points to a positive start to Australian trade despite declines in iron ore and crude oil.

The SPI 200 index futures contract advanced 16 points or 0.2 per cent to 6594 after hopes for a rate cut helped Wall Street end a two-session losing streak.

The S&P 500 rallied 11 points or 0.36 per cent after a leading Federal Reserve official said the central bank should "act quickly to lower rates at the first sign of economic distress". The comments by New York Federal Reserve president John Williams raised expectations the Fed may cut its key rate by as much as 50 basis points at the end of this month. The Dow edged up 3 points or 0.01 per cent and the Nasdaq 22 points or 0.27 per cent.

Williams' comments gave the market a shot in the arm after a choppy session as traders weighed mixed earnings reports. Netflix plunged more than 10 per cent after losing subscribers in the US. IBM rose more than 4 per cent as evidence of growth in its cloud business offset a fourth straight decline in quarterly revenue. Microsoft gained more than 1 per cent in after-market trade following a 50 per cent surge in profit.

The ASX will start the session near a two-week low after declining yesterday for the fourth time in five sessions. The ASX 200 retreated 24 points or 0.4 per cent as traders bet June unemployment figures were not weak enough to force the Reserve Bank's hand on rates.

The big two iron ore miners dragged on the market and may prove a handicap again today following declines in iron ore and their overseas listings. BHP fell 1.81 per cent in the US overnight and 0.29 per cent in the UK. Rio Tinto's US-listed shares lost 1.97 per cent and its UK shares 0.51 per cent. Iron ore dropped $US1.25 or 1 per cent to $US119.50 a tonne.

Energy stocks face further pressure after oil slumped to its weakest close in a month. Brent crude dipped $1.73 or 2.7 per cent to $US61.93 a barrel as production in the Gulf of Mexico picked up after last week's hurricane.

A rally in nickel showed no sign of abating, with the metal surging to its highest level in a year. London nickel ended 2.8 per cent ahead at $US14,850 a tonne in closing open outcry. Earlier, the Shanghai price rose the maximum 6 per cent allowed. Trading volumes were twice that of copper and aluminium, raising contagion fears. London copper was flat, while aluminium gained 0.4 per cent and lead 2.1 per cent. Tin fell 0.5 per cent and zinc 0.4 per cent.

The US dollar fell sharply after John Williams' comments, boosting gold and the Australian unit. Gold scaled a fresh six-year peak as traders sought alternative stores of wealth. August gold settled $4.80 or 0.3 per cent ahead at $US1,428.10 an ounce, and extended those gains in recent action, lately up another $24.30 or 1.7 per cent at $US1,447.60. The Australian dollar surged nearly a cent to 70.75 US cents.

Barring surprises, it looks like a quiet end to a busy week. The local economic calendar is empty and there are no major releases scheduled in the US tonight.

Breakfast

Today is National Daiquiri Day. Too early? We've laid on mocktails for non-drinkers. If only I could remember, which one's which...