Day Trading Pre Market 18 August

THE PENSKE FILE AUGUSY 18



Morning all Highlandlad is chucking a sickie today

The ASX is set to open slightly higher with the Sept SPI futures 11 points firmer at 5313.

European equities finished mixed on Monday, after a choppy day of trade, as investors kept and eye on the oil price and watched for progress being made in concluding a third bailout program for Greece.

London's FTSE 100 ended flat, with miners the major under performers as commodity prices remained in focus.
Germany's DAX ended around 0.3 percent lower. The DAX sank as much as 1.3 percent lower earlier in the session, hitting its lowest level in over a month, with Reuters attributing this to the weak manufacturing data from the state of New York. Investors will be keeping an eye on developments on the conclusion of a third rescue plan for Greece, with national parliaments voting this week on whether to ratify the deal.

U.S. stocks closed higher on Monday after the release of positive homebuilder data as investors digested weak manufacturing data and falling oil prices while eyeing the release of the Federal Reserve's minutes.
The National Association of Home Builders index rose 1 point to 61, its highest level since November 2005.
"I think the fact that it was positive really turned the market around," said William Lynch, director of investments at Hinsdale Associates.
The index's data release propelled stocks up and helped the S&P 500 to close above its 50-day moving average for the first time since Aug. 10. The Nasdaq Composite also rose more than 0.7 percent as biotechnology stocks rose about 2 percent and Apple jumped more than 1 percent.
"They both have had a few corrections in the past few months," said Zachary Karabell, head of global strategy at Envestnet. "This is at the other side of that correction."
Before trading higher, stocks opened with the Dow Jones industrial average falling as much as 136 points, while the S&P 500 an the Nasdaq also fell sharply on the heels of weak manufacturing data.
Wall Street also kept an eye on oil prices, which continued to fall on Monday trading.

The S&P 500 ended 7 points higher, or 0.52 percent, at 2,099, with health care leading nine sectors higher and energy lagging. The Nasdaq closed up 43.46 points, or 0.86 percent, to 5,091, as biotechnology stocks rose 2.08 percent on the day and as Apple rose 1.03 percent.

Meanwhile Iron ore prices may tumble about 30 per cent over the next 18 months as supply expands while steel output falters, according to Goldman Sachs Group. "Supply is likely to diverge further from demand," analysts Christian Lelong and Amber Cai wrote in a report. "Contrary to market consensus, we believe that peak-steel production will be followed by a contraction" in China. "The next phase of balancing will require a further 30 per cent price decline over the next 18 months, on our forecasts. The summer of 2015 is the calm before the storm."

The ASX will also hear from ANZ boss Mike Smith on the level of impairments at ANZ, the most heavily exposed of the Australian banks to the resources industry, when he briefs the market on third-quarter operations. Earlier this month, ANZ increased provisions for bad loans to $366 million, up 32 per cent compared to the previous three months.

Gold futures settled up $5.70 at $1,118.40 an ounce with HUI improving a tasty 4.8 points to 121.3.
Metals:
Copper declined .7%, Aluminium .87%, Lead 1.1%, zinc .4%
Nickel bucked the trend up .76%



Have a good day