Day Trading 15 Dec Pre Market

Morning all
Thanks Trees, Shants and Rav

The ASX looks set for a flat opening after a listless session in the US . Dec.
SPI futures point 1 pint lower at 4920

In overnight news, Euro zone industrial production in October rose a better-than-expected 0.6% month-on-month, and was up 1.9% year-on-year. In other news, the Chinese currency, the yuan, fell to a four-year low against the U.S. dollar Monday, as China monetary officials work to keep the world’s second-largest economy afloat. There was no major U.S. economic released Monday.

European shares fell to a 2 1/2-month low on Monday as Brent crude oil prices dropped to their lowest since 2008.
Brent sank below $37 a barrel for the first time since December 2008, amid expectations that a glut in oil supplies would grow in the months to come.
Energy shares fell 2.6 percent. Seadrill, Tullow Oil and OMV were down 3 to 5 percent.
But the declines were not limited to oil and gas stocks. Every STOXX Europe 600 sector fell at least 1 percent.
"It's a little bit surprising that a lower oil price is taken as such a negative by the stock market," said Dennis Jose, European equity strategist at Barclays.
DAX -2%
STOXX 50 -2%
FTSE -1.5%


On Tuesday begins the highly anticipated two-day meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC). The marketplace generally expects this week’s FOMC meeting to see the Fed raise the U.S. fed funds level from the present rate of zero to 0.25%. What will be closely watched is the Fed’s language that could provide clues on the pace of future interest rate increases. Fed Chair Janet Yellen holds a press conference right after this meeting’s conclusion Wednesday afternoon.
High-yield (junk) bond markets are coming under serious strains recently—especially those bonds related to energy markets. The concern is that the strains in the junk bond sector could spill over into safer debt markets to create a panic or contagion. If this situation deteriorates it could give the safe-haven gold market a boost.
U.S. stocks were little changed in volatile trading on Monday, two days ahead of an expected interest rate hike, as oil prices steadied after falling to within touching distance of 11-year lows.
The S&P energy sector .SPNY reversed course and was up 0.44 percent, even as crude stayed firmly below $40 a barrel, amid mounting fears of a worsening supply glut. [O/R]
The meltdown in the energy sector has hit the U.S. high-yield energy bonds, while the overall cash market weakened slightly on more fund liquidations.
"It's the (Fed) communiqué that's going to count, but the real problem here is the junk bond market, which is tied to oil prices," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.
"A lot of paper written to oil companies are in question, and so it ties in with the price of oil," he said.
S&P 500 unchanged
Nasdaq -.1%

Oil rebounded after prices dipped below $US35 a barrel for the first time since 2009, prompting traders to buy back some of their record bearish bets.
Futures earlier touched $US34.53 a barrel in New York, the lowest since February 18, 2009. In the US,
"We're seeing short covering after an impressive run lower," said Bill O'Grady, chief market strategist at Confluence Investment Management in St. Louis. "WTI has the bigger move because investors believe that a deal to lift the export ban may be close."
Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at the Price Futures Group in Chicago said "There are record short positions. You have to watch because there could be a violent snap back when they cover those shorts."
Oil $36.28 + 1.85%


Copper was 1.1% lower overnight.
"Given the weakness in oil and US equities, the odds of base metals pushing substantially higher look somewhat limited," said Ed Meir at INTL FCStone in a note.
In China, the yuan hit a 4-1/2-year low after the central bank again lowered the yuan midpoint rate, weighing on emerging markets and Asian equities.
On the plus-side, data at the weekend showed China's factory output growth reached a five-month high in November, signalling that a flurry of stimulus measures from Beijing may have put a floor under the economy.
China consumes nearly half of the world's copper.
"The China data (this weekend) is the first glimmer of light. Metals have been fairly oversold. If markets start to feel maybe things are turning around in China, there's room for short covering," said William Adams, head of research at Fast Markets.

Aluminium ended up 0.84%
China's aluminium smelters on Friday pledged to shut more production this month and not to add any new capacity in 2016, as the industry pushes to shore up plunging prices.
The announcement that Chinese smelters would cut 500,000 tonnes by year end did little for the (aluminium) price, underling just how poor sentiment is
Nickel ended 0.36% at $3.94lb
Zinc +.36%
Lead + .68%

Gold prices ended the U.S. day session lower Monday, as crude oil dropped to a nearly seven-year low below $35.00 a barrel in early trading, before rebounding. Silver prices dropped to a six-year low. The charts for gold and silver remain firmly bearish, which is keeping the sellers very comfortable. February Comex gold was last down $11.40 at $1,064.30 an ounce.
AUD Gold $1470
HUI -5.5%*

AUD 72.43

BHP ADR -.5%
RIO ADR -1.4%

Todays news
RBA Asst. Governor speaks
mid year economic and fiscal outlook
US -
CPI m/m

Have a good day

Sources Bloomberg, SMH, *****, Forex Factory