Morning traders. Thanks loungers, especially @Ravgnome, @Patterns and @FlashPoint.
Outlook for the day: Mildly negative after US stocks close mixed but mostly lower. The ASX 200 is on a two-session losing run.
ASX futures: down 13 points or 0.18%
Overnight themes:
- Wall Street's main indices end mixed as investors rotate out of megacap tech giants into blue-chips and small caps ahead of next week's risk events (interest rates, inflation).
- The Nasdaq and S&P 500 fall further from multi-month highs as treasury yields rise. The Dow edges higher as gains in Caterpillar, 3M and Goldman help offset falls in Microsoft and Apple.
- Treasury yields climb as the odds on rates pause next week fall to 69% from 77% after the Bank of Canada hikes rates.
- The Russell 2000 index of small caps climbs 1.78% to a three-month high.
- "Over the past week, we've seen a pretty dramatic outperformance of small caps relative to large caps" - Paul Baiocchi, chief ETF strategist at SS&C ALPS Advisors.
- Energy, real estate and utilities all gain at least 1.7%. Growth sectors decline.
Key events today:
- April trade balance - 11.30 am AEST
- US weekly unemployment claims - tonight
S&P 500: down 16 points or 0.38%
Dow: up 92 points or 0.27%
Nasdaq: down 172 points or 1.29%
Dollar: down 0.42% to 66.52 US cents
Iron ore (Dalian): down 0.47% to US$108
Brent crude: up 66 US cents or 0.9% to US$76.95
Gold: down US$23.10 or 1.2% to US$1,958.40
NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: down 1.2%
Copper (LME): up 0.61% to US$8,390
Nickel (LME): up 1.17% to US$21,200
Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: down 1.19%
BHP: down 0.07% (US); up 0.05% (UK)
Rio Tinto: up 0.02% (US); up 0.02% (UK)
