Day trading pre-market open July 25

Morning traders. Thanks loungers, especially @Ravgnome and @Patterns.


Outlook for the day: Negative after lacklustre earnings from Alphabet and Tesla triggered Wall Street's heaviest sell-off since 2022.

ASX futures: down 75 points or 0.95%


Overnight themes:

• US stocks tumbled after trading updates from megacaps Alphabet and Tesla failed to persuade investors that elevated valuations for the "Magnificent Seven" group of market leaders were justified.
• The Nasdaq plunged 3.64% to its worst percentage decline since October 2022.
• The S&P 500 dropped 2.31%, its biggest loss since December 2022.
• The Dow fared best with a loss of 1.25% as healthcare stocks offered a haven from the selling.
• Tesla dived 12.33% as investors reacted to shrinking profit margins and an earnings miss. Google parent company Alphabet shed 5.04% after reporting increasing expenses and slowing advertising.
• Doubts about valuations infected the rest of the Magnificent Seven. Losses among Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia and Meta ranged from 2.88% up to 6.8%. All five will release quarterly updates over the next couple of weeks.
• "There's a little bit of profit-taking, and then people are a little apprehensive about earnings announcements upcoming" - Dave Grecsek, managing director in investment strategy and research at Aspiriant (per Reuters).
• The carnage was centred mostly in the sectors dominated by Big Tech: the I.T. sector lost 4.14%, consumer discretionary 3.89% and communication services 3.76%. Also weak: industrials -2.17%, real estate -1.34%, materials -1.26% and financials -1.19%.
• Four sectors bucked the downtrend: utilities, health, energy and consumer staples.
• The Russell 2000 index of small caps pared a winning month. A 2.13% fall last night cut its gain for July to 7.2%. The index has significantly outperformed the major benchmarks this month. The Nasdaq is now down around 2.2% for July and the S&P 500 off 0.6%. The Dow is ahead 1.9%.
• A classic "flight to safety" boosted the greenback, sending the Australian unit to a six-week low. The Aussie was lately down almost 0.5% at 65.8 US cents.
• ASX heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto sailed through the storm with barely a scratch despite a fourth straight drop in iron ore prices in China. BHP lost 1.16% in US trade. Rio dipped less than 0.1%. Benchmark ore in China declined 1.65% to US$106.61 a metric ton.
• An index of US battery metal miners slumped to its lowest in almost four years. The Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF skidded 3.04% to a level last seen in August 2020.
• China demand worries continued to weigh on industrial metals. Copper fell 1.26% to a three-and-a-half month low. Nickel slid below US$16,000 a metric ton, dropping 1.31% to US$15,835.

Key events today:

• US advance GDP - tonight
• US durable goods - tonight

S&P 500: 129 points or 2.31%

Dow: down 504 points or 1.25%

Nasdaq: down 6.55 points or 3.64%

Dollar: down 0.48% to 65.8 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): down 1.65% to US$106.61

Brent crude: up 70 US cents or 0.9% to US$81.71

Gold: up US$8.70 or 0.36% to US$2,413.30

Silver: down 2 US cents or 0.05% to US$29.12

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: down 0.66%

Bitcoin: down 0.9% to US$65,419

Copper (LME): down 1.26% to US$9,050.50

Nickel (LME): down 1.31% to US$15,835

Lithium carbonate (China futures): down 0.82%

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: down 3.04%

Uranium (spot): down 1.05% to US$83.50

BHP: down 1.16% (US); down 0.09% (UK)

Rio Tinto: down 0.06% (US); up 1.34% (UK)