Day trading pre-market open August 12

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


Outlook for the day: Positive after Wall Street clawed back most of last Monday's heavy loss and commodity markets continued to heal.

ASX futures: up 59 points or 0.76%


Friday themes:

• US stocks ended a volatile week with modest weekly losses as buyers continued to take advantage of a three-day sell-off that last Monday delivered the market's heaviest fall in two years.
• Volatility continued to subside on Friday as tech stocks led a recovery on that lifted the S&P 500 by 0.47%, the Dow by 0.13% and the Nasdaq by 0.51%.
• Gains on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday were sufficient to reverse much of Monday's falls. The S&P 500 finished with a weekly loss of 0.04%. The Dow gave up 0.6% for the week and the Nasdaq 0.18%.
• Friday's modest gains drew the curtain on the most volatile week so far this year, which included a 3% Monday loss for the S&P 500 and a thousand-point tumble for the Dow after soft payrolls data stoked fears that the economy was tilting towards recession. Several Federal Reserve officials pushed back against those fears later in the week.
• Ten of eleven sectors rose on Friday, led by communication services +0.97%, tech +0.64% and real estate +0.49%. Materials was the only laggard, easing 0.1%.
• Inflation and retail sales reports this week will offer more information on the probable size of any rate cut next month and the likelihood of a soft landing for the economy.
• Iron ore and copper rose as US unemployment claims and China inflation data soothed fears that the global economy was losing momentum. First-time claims for US jobless benefits contracted more than expected, suggesting jitters about the labour market were exaggerated. Consumer price growth accelerated in China in a possible sign that government attempts to boost consumption were gaining traction. Benchmark ore prices in China slashed their weekly loss to 2.6% with a rise of 0.27% on Friday. Copper gained 0.82% on the London Metal Exchange.
• Oil broke a four-week losing run as traders anticipated retaliation by Iran against Israel after the assassination of a Hamas leader last week. Brent crude sealed a weekly gain of 3.7% with a rise of 0.6% on Friday. Oil prices hit a seven-month low last Monday.

Key events this week:

• Speech and Q&A with RBA Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser - 12 pm AEST
• Monthly consumer sentiment - Tuesday
• Quarterly wage price index - Tuesday
• US wholesale inflation (PPI) - Tuesday
• US consumer inflation (CPI) - Wednesday
• July jobs report - Thursday
• China monthly industrial production, retail sales, etc - Thursday
• US retail sales - Thursday
• US unemployment claims - Thursday
• RBA Governor Michele Bullock testifies before a House committee - Friday

S&P 500: up 25 points or 0.47%

Dow: up 51 points or 0.13%

Nasdaq: up 85 points or 0.51%

Dollar: down 0.07% to 65.7 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): up 0.27% to US$103.43

Brent crude: up 50 US cents or 0.6% to US$79.66

Gold: up US$10.10 or 0.41% to US$2,473.40

Silver: down 2 US cents or 0.07% to US$27.59

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: up 1.09%

Bitcoin: down 2.8% to US$58,622

Copper (LME): up 0.82% to US$8,866.50

Nickel (LME): up 0.04% to US$16,150

Lithium carbonate (China futures): % to US$

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: down 0.36%

Uranium (spot): steady at US$82

BHP: up 1.15 (US); up 0.43% (UK)

Rio Tinto: up 0.51% (US); down 0.32% (UK)