Morning traders. Thanks loungers, especially @Ravgnome. Outlook...

Morning traders. Thanks loungers, especially @Ravgnome.


Outlook for the day: Positive. Australian stocks have a third day of gains in their sights following modest gains for most US stocks, a four-week high in the dollar and a second-straight strong session for iron ore.

ASX futures: up 24 points or 0.31%


Overnight themes:

• Wall Street's main stock benchmarks finish mixed but mostly higher ahead of tonight's March inflation report.
• The S&P 500 and Nasdaq turn positive in late trade, gaining 0.14% and 0.32%, respectively. The Dow slashes a 320-point loss to just nine points or 0.02%.
• A retreat in treasury yields aids rate-sensitive sectors. The yield on 10-year treasuries drops six basis points from Monday's near-five-month high. Real estate and utilities - two sectors highly exposed to borrowing costs - outperform, gaining 1.29% and 0.55%, respectively. Growth sectors also advance.
• Chip stocks help lift the Nasdaq despite a 2.04% dip in Nvidia. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index gains 0.94%.
• Bank stocks drag ahead of the start of the first-quarter reporting season on Friday. JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo all decline ahead of reporting. The financial sector drops 0.5%.
• This year's stock rally has stalled as investors question whether inflation has stalled significantly higher than central bank targets, confounding hopes for rate cuts later this year. March consumer price figures due tonight will be closely examined for clues to the Federal Reserve's next move.
• “The market has been treading water over the last week or so, worried about the Fed and its commitment to lowering interest rates. A stronger-than-expected CPI reading, at both the headline and the core level, could end up triggering a catalyst for correction” - Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research (per CNBC).
• The impact of higher rates on small businesses was underscored overnight by an 11-year low in optimism among small businesses. The National Federation of Independent Business's Small Business Optimism Index dropped 0.9 points to 88.5 last month, the weakest reading since December 2012. The index has been stuck below its long-term average for 27 months.
• The dollar touches a four-week high against the greenback, trading as high as 66.45 US cents before paring its advance to 66.27 cents.
• Iron ore rises sharply for a second session amid reports of Chinese steel-makers restocking after last week's holiday. Ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rallies 5.63% in daytime trade to its highest since March 25.
• Copper hits a 14-month high in London as funds bet on higher prices. Citi raises its price target from US$9,200 a ton to US$9,700 in the next three months.
• "This is an expectation-driven rally driven by macroeconomic factors, less due to fundamentals. More funds are betting on upside in forward prices of copper" - an unnamed London trader quoted by Reuters.

Key events today:

• US inflation report (CPI) - tonight
• Minutes from the latest Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting - tonight

S&P 500: up 8 points or 0.14%

Dow: down 9 points or 0.02%

Nasdaq: up 53 points or 0.32%

Dollar: up 0.33% to 66.27 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): up 5.63% to US$112.73

Brent crude: down 96 US cents or 1.1% to US$89.42

Gold: up US$11.40 or 0.5% to US$2,362.40

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: up 1.96%

Bitcoin: up 0.12% to US$69,078

Copper (LME): up 0.88% to US$9,411.50

Nickel (LME): up 0.25% to US$17.848

Uranium (spot price): steady at US$89.75

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: up 1.99%

BHP: up 1.34% (US); up 0.85% (UK)

Rio Tinto: up 1.79% (US); up 1.29% (UK)