Morning traders. Thanks loungers, especially @Ravgnome.
Outlook for the day: Positive after banks and resource stocks weather a tech-led sell-off on Wall Street.
ASX futures: up 27 points or 0.36%
Friday themes:
US stocks finish mixed and sharply divided on Friday as corporate earnings and fading rate-cut hopes set the tone.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq decline for a sixth straight session, sending both to their heaviest weekly losses in more than a year.
A Q1 profit beat from AmEx helps the Dow rally 0.56%. The payments company's shares soar 6.33%.
The "Magnificent 7" group of megacap tech leaders lead the sell-off on the Nasdaq as traders continue to discount the odds on lower rates this year. AI poster child Nvidia dives 10%. Meta sheds 4.13%, Amazon 2.56%, Tesla 1.92%, Microsoft 1.27%, Alphabet 1.23% and Apple 1.22%.
The Nasdaq and S&P 500 log their longest losing streaks since October 2022. The S&P 500 loses 0.88% despite more than half of its 11 sectors booking gains. Rate-sensitive growth stocks account for much of the weakness.
"You've seen rate-cutting expectations just continue to come out of the market, and they should be because there's nothing about the [recent economic] data that says they should cut" - Mike Dickson, head of research and quantitative strategies at Horizon Investments (per Reuters).
The tech sector plunges 3.08%, communication services 2.03% and consumer discretionary 1.19%. At the other end, utilities bounce 1.47% and financials gain 1.35%.
Netflix slumps 9.09% after a disappointing revenue outlook.
Friday's decline hands the S&P 500 its heaviest weekly loss since March 2023. The broadest of the major benchmarks loses 3.05%. The Nasdaq's 5.52% loss for the week is its largest since October 2022.
Copper touches its highest level in almost two years, extending a rally that his boosted prices by 16% in two months. Citi upgrades its copper price outlook to an average US$10,000 a metric ton across this quarter and the next.
Nickel soars 4.1% to a seven-month high following reports of China's state buyer wading into the market. Reuters quotes an industry source as saying the Chinese government was seeking 200,000 metric tones of nickel pig iron or 20,000 tons of refined metal for the national stockpile.
The US energy sector adds 1.12% as oil surges on news of an Israeli attack on Iran. However, oil finishes well off its intraday peak as the reverberations from the attack subside. Brent crude finishes just 0.2% ahead at US$87.29 after trading as high as US$90.75 following the first reports of explosions inside Iran. Prices recede once it becomes clear the strike was limited in scale and causes minimal damage.
Iron ore trims a week of strong gains. Benchmark ore prices on the Dalian Commodity Exchange ease 0.34%. Prices surged 5.3% last week.
Key events this week:
US Q1 corporate earnings season - all week
Flash manufacturing/non-manufacturing PMIs - 9 am AEST today
China interest rate decision - 11.15 am
US flash manufacturing/non-manufacturing PMIs - Tuesday
