daytrades march 2 pre-market

Morning traders.

Market wrap: Shares are poised to open in positive territory for a third straight day after U.S. equities pushed to five-week highs overnight.

Futures traders expect our market to open 24 points ahead of yesterday's close. The March SPI futures contract closed at 4714 after equity gains in Europe and the U.S. and a strong night for base metals.

Take-over news and improving economic signals spurred Wall Street to its highest level since mid-January. The S&P 500 climbed 1.02%, the Dow Jones 0.76% and the Nasdaq 1.58%.

Sentiment was lifted by news that UK financial giant Prudential will buy AIG's Asian operations, German drug company Merck will buy U.S. biotech Millipore and market index firm MSCI will buy RiskMetrics Group. The small-cap Russell 2000 index, home to many potential take-over targets, spiked 2.1% as investors opened positions.

The overnight economic news was generally supportive. U.S. personal spending grew 0.5% in January, its fourth straight rise, while manufacturing expanded for a seventh month but below expectations.

"AIG/Prudential is a pretty big deal," a Boston-based money manager told Bloomberg. "That indicates M&A is alive and well, stimulating people's interest in the stock market. On top of that, we had the spending number this morning and any sign that consumer confidence is improving has to be positive for the market."

Trading volume was light on the NYSE, but advancers outnumbered decliners by nearly four to one. Financial stocks slipped 0.5% but there were healthy gains for biotechs, up 5.7%, airlines +2.3%, industrials +1.9%, precious metals miners +1.7% and oilers +1.1%.

Crude oil was crimped by the soft manufacturing data and a charging U.S. dollar. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, rallied 0.4%. Crude futures were recently down 1.14% at $78.75 a barrel.

Copper punched to a seven-week high in New York but pared its gains as mines in Chile, the world's largest producer, escaped earthquake damage and began to re-open. Copper futures were up more than 6% in early trade and closed 2.1% higher. Other base metals advanced on the London Metal Exchange.

Gold futures were little changed. The spot price was recently 30 cents lower than Friday's new York close at $1,117.60 an ounce.

European markets were cheered by the merger news and gains for resource stocks. Britain's FTSE added 0.96%, Germany's DAX 2.06% and France's CAC 1.64%.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

INTEREST RATES: The RBA delivers its decision this afternoon. The news will be posted here at 2.30 pm on the dot.

COPPER AND NICKEL: A boom night for copper built on tragedy in Chile. The buying wave broke once news reports confirmed that mines had escaped damage and were coming back on-line, but there may be more in this run. Nickel looks even more bullish after breaking out its recent trading range. Our nickel miners remain well off recent highs, suggesting possible opportunities.

ECONOMIC NEWS: The 2.30 pm interest rate announcement is the main local event but today also brings monthly retail sales and building approvals at 11.30 am. After a busy start to the week, the U.S. is relatively quiet tonight, with just monthly vehicle sales scheduled.

Good luck to all.