Day trading pre-market open August 26

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


Outlook for the day: Positive after Wall Street welcomed confirmation that rate cuts are coming soon.

ASX futures: up 41 points or 0.51%


Overnight themes:

• US stocks rallied after the Federal Reserve prepared the market for interest rate cuts from next month.
• Stocks rose and the dollar and treasury yields fell after Chair Jerome Powell told the Jackson Hole economic symposium, “The time has come for policy to adjust.”
• The Dow climbed 462 points or 1.14% back towards record levels. The S&P 500 gained 1.15%. The Nasdaq Composite put on 1.47%.
• While Powell confirmed a rate cut was coming next month, he offered no guidance on the scale of the September cut or for the rest of the year. “The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook and the balance of risks,” he said.
• Still, traders read enough into Powell's remarks to up the odds on a double-sized 50 bp rate cut next month. The likelihood of a 50bp cut rose to 37% from around 25% on Thursday.
• “The market is kind of breathing a sigh of relief” - Skyler Weinand, chief investment officer at Regan Capital (per CNBC).
• Rate-sensitive sectors led the US advance. Real estate jumped 2% as all 11 S&P sectors advanced. Tech gained 1.66%.
• The falling greenback boosted US dollar-denominated commodity prices, lifting the energy sector 1.48% and materials 1.35%.
• Oil could be in traders' sights this morning following a sharp escalation in hostilities in the Middle East. Israel and Hezbollah appeared to move closer to all-out war yesterday with an exchange of rocket fire. Israeli jets reportedly destroyed rocket launchers in southern Lebanon on Sunday morning. Hezbollah claimed to have fired 320 rockets and drones at Israel in retaliation for the killing of a senior commander. Brent crude climbed 2.3% on Friday.
• Gold settled near an all-time high. Gold for December delivery climbed 1.2% to US$2,546.30 an ounce. The all-time settlement high for a futures contract was US$2,550.60 last Tuesday. Gold prices have soared 23% this year, peaking intraday at US$2,570.40 last week.
• Iron ore trimmed a positive week on Friday as China demand questions continued to contain any price recovery. Benchmark ore dropped 2.24% in daytime trade in China, shaving ore's gain for the week to 1.8%.
• The last big week of the domestic earnings season brings updates from a string of heavyweights, including BHP, Woodside, Coles, Woolworths, Fortescue, South32 and Wesfarmers. More below.

Key events this week:

• Corporate earnings: Endeavour Group, NIB, Star Entertainment, Bendigo Bank, Pilbara Minerals, Kogan, Perpetual, Viva Energy, Chorus (today); BHP, Coles, Woodside, Worley, Zip Co, Lovisa, Johns Lyng, McMillan Shakespeare, Nanosonics (Tuesday); Woolworths, Fortescue, Nine Entertainment, Tabcorp, Karoon Energy, APA, Adairs, Kelsian Group, Smartgroup (Wednesday); South32, Wesfarmers, IGO, Mineral Resources, Qantas, Sandfire Resources, Atlas Arteria, Bega Cheese, Waypoint REIT, Steadfast, Southern Cross Media, Cromwell Property Group (Thursday); and Appen, Flight Centre, Ramsay Health Care, Downer EDI and TPG Telecom (Friday). (Source: CommSec)
• US durable goods - tonight
• US consumer confidence - Tuesday
• July inflation report (CPI) - Wednesday
• Q4 construction work - Wednesday
• Q4 private capital expenditure - Thursday
• US preliminary GDP - Thursday
• July retail sales - Friday
• US inflation report (PCE) - Friday

S&P 500: up 64 points or 1.15%

Dow: up 462 points or 1.14%

Nasdaq: up 258 points or 1.47%

Dollar: down 0.02% to 67.93 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): down 2.24% to US$100.81

Brent crude: up US$1.80 or 2.3% to US$79.02

Gold (futures): up US$29.60 or 1.2% to US$2,546.30

Gold (spot): up US$22.06 or 0.89% to US$2,509.63

Silver: up 78 US cents or 2.7% to US$29.82

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: up 1.14%

Bitcoin: up 0.68% to US$64,409

Copper (LME): up 1.73 to US$9,288.50

Nickel (LME): up 0.93% to US$16,758

Lithium carbonate (China): down 0.84% to 74,250 yuan

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: up 2.08%

Uranium (spot): up 1.66% to US$81.75

BHP: up 1.66% (US); up 0.05% (UK)

Rio Tinto: up 0.45% (US); down 0.47% (UK)