Day trading pre-market open August 20

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


Outlook for the day: An eighth straight winning night on Wall Street and improvements in key commodity prices point to further ASX gains.

ASX futures: up 36 points or 0.45%


Overnight themes:

• US stocks built on their best weekly performance of the year as investors looked ahead to likely rate cuts next month.
• The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite posted their eighth straight winning sessions, the best run of the year for both indices. The Dow's 0.58% gain was its seventh in eight sessions.
• The major benchmarks picked up where they left off on Friday following the strongest weekly performance of the year in percentage terms. The three major indices put on between 2.9% and 5.3% last week as cooling inflation and solid economic data kept rate cuts and an elusive soft landing for the economy within reach. Overnight, Goldman Sachs lowered the odds on a US recession within the next 12 months to 20% from 25% before last week's data.
• "The market has almost fully recovered from the overblown recession fears earlier this month" - Greg Marcus, managing director of UBS Private Wealth Management (per CNBC).
• Investors hope the minutes from this month's Federal Reserve meeting due for release tomorrow night will confirm a likely rate cut next month, possibly up to 50 basis points. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is due to address the annual Jackson Hole economic symposium on Friday.
• "What's behind (this rally) is the hope that the spigots will continue to be open with the Fed potentially cutting rates in September" - Paul Nolte, senior wealth advisor & market strategist at Murphy & Sylvest (per Reuters).
• Megacap growth stocks led as all 11 US sectors posted gains. The three sectors dominated by the Magnificent Seven - communication services, tech and consumer discretionary put on between 1.14% and 1.44%. The two sectors that carry the most weight on the ASX - financials and materials - added 0.61% and 0.5%, respectively.
• A retreat in the US dollar boosted demand for dollar-denominated commodities and lifted the Australian dollar to a five-week high. The Aussie was lately up 0.85% at 67.29 US cents.
• Copper advanced 1.59% in London to its highest in two and a half weeks, aided by a five-month low in stocks at warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange. Nickel and aluminium both gained more than 2.1%.
• Iron ore overcame early weakness as signs of improving steel prices helped prices in China bounce off a 12-month low. Benchmark ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange firmed 0.71% as steel prices improved on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. BHP and Rio Tinto rose in overseas trade.
• The US benchmark for gold stocks hit its highest in more than two years despite a pause in a rally that powered the yellow metal to all-time highs on Friday. Spot gold eased more than 0.1% overnight. Gold futures edged up around 0.1%. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs index rallied 2.03% to a level last seen in April 2022.
• Oil settled at a two-week low as traders pared bets on disruption to supplies from the Middle East. Expectations for Iranian retaliation against Israel had supported prices against demand worries in recent weeks. Brent crude dropped US$2.02 or 2.5% to US$77.66 a barrel.

Key events today:

• Corporate earnings: Ansell, HUB24, Monadelphous, Sims, Vicinity Centres, Helia, Deterra, Reliance, VGI, Baby Bunting, ARB, Ingenia (source: CommSec)
• Minutes from this month's RBA policy meeting - 11.30 am AEST

S&P 500: up 54 points or 0.97%

Dow: up 237 points or 0.58%

Nasdaq: up 245 points or 1.39%

Dollar: up 0.85% to 67.29 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): up 0.71% to US$99.70

Brent crude: down US$2.02 or 2.5% to US$77.66

Gold (futures): up US$3.50 or 0.1% to US$2,541.30

Gold (spot): down US$4.10 or 0.16% to US$2,503.70

Silver: up 41 US cents or 1.41% to US$29.44

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: up 2.03%

Bitcoin: down 1.15% to US$59,050

Copper (LME): up 1.59% to US$9,260

Nickel (LME): up 2.16% to US$16,795

Lithium carbonate (China futures): down 0.86% to US$10,458

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: up 0.99%

Uranium (spot): steady at US$81.50

BHP: up 1.35% (US); up 1.27% (UK)

Rio Tinto: up 1.96% (US); up 1.74% (UK)