Day trading pre-market open August 27

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


Outlook for the day: Positive after Wall Street shrugged off the White House's latest attack on the independence of the Federal Reserve.

ASX futures: up 47 points or 0.53%


Overnight themes: ​

• US stocks rose as a pre-earnings rally in Nvidia helped the market look past President Donald Trump's attempt to remove a member of the Federal Reserve board. ​
• The S&P 500 reversed Monday's fall with an advance of 0.41%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average firmed 136 points or 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.44%.​
• Nvidia, the world's most valuable company by market cap, rallied 1.09% ahead of a quarterly trading update due tomorrow morning shortly after the close of tonight's US session. The report is the latest litmus test as to whether this year's surge in Artificial Intelligence related stocks can continue. “How is Nvidia going to deliver and execute on what I think are pretty elevated expectations right now? Do they guide higher? Do they guide more than what the market expects? Those are things that I think are going to influence how the market reacts,” Ameriprise Chief Market Strategist Anthony Saglimbene told CNBC.​
• Also encouraging buyers: drug-maker Eli Lilly surged 5.85% after trial results showed its experimental pill dramatically reduced body weight in diabetes patients.​
• The dollar fell and long-term treasury yields rose after Trump announced he was firing Fed Governor Lisa Cook following accusations she engaged in mortgage fraud. The US dollar index was lately down 0.22%. The yield curve steepened as bond traders bet that interest rates will fall in the short term, but have to rise in the long term as inflation rebounded under a Trump-controlled Fed. ​
• Cook said the president had no authority to fire her and she would challenge the dismissal in court. Trump is the first president to try to fire a sitting Fed member under a vaguely-worded "for cause" clause. The Fed said it would abide by any court decision. ​
• “In the immediate term, markets will probably get over the Cook news fairly quickly (assuming this is a discrete event and Trump doesn’t attempt to fire Powell), turning its attention back to Nvidia, the PCE, and jobs, but the Fed’s independence is undeniably being undermined, a process with negative long-term consequences,” Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge, told CNBC.​
• "The financial market community is increasingly concerned about [the Fed's] independence. That is a real concern over the long run. But over the short run, how much does it change the trajectory of interest rate policy in the next six to 12 months? I think the writing has already been on the wall that we get easier monetary policy in the next six to 12 months," Bill Merz, head of Capital Market Research at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, told Reuters.​
• Seven of eleven S&P sectors rose, led by industrials +1.03% and financials +0.76%. The materials sector firmed 0.41%. The biggest drags were consumer staples -0.46% and real estate -0.27%. ​
• Gold climbed to its highest in more than two weeks as Trump's attempt to dismiss a Federal Reserve governor pushed investors towards traditional safe havens. "Overnight you had news that Trump fired one of the Fed governors accused to mortgage fraud. It gave a little life to gold because the Fed's kind of been the driver in gold right now," RJO Futures market strategist Bob Haberkorn told Reuters. Spot gold rallied US$26.27 or 0.78% to US$3,392.36 an ounce as the US dollar sagged, rebounded, then wilted again. US gold futures settled US$15.50 or 0.5% ahead at US$3,433. ​
• Iron ore declined after Trump threatened to slap China with a 200% tariff unless Beijing loosened restrictions on US access to magnets. Magnets and rare earths were among exports China hit with restrictions in April at the peak of the US-China trade war. China produces around 90% of the world's magnets, used in semiconductor chips, among many other things. Trump said the US needed more magnets or "we have to charge them 200% tariff or something". Benchmark iron ore declined 0.7% on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange to US$108.56 a metric ton. The Singapore ore benchmark dropped 0.93% to US$102.30. ​
• Dollar selling helped lift industrial metals. Copper traded at its strongest level in more than two weeks when trade resumed on the London Metal Exchange after Monday's bank holiday. A weaker greenback makes dollar-priced commodities cheaper for buyers using other currencies. LME copper advanced 0.51% to US$9,846.50 per metric ton. Nickel, aluminium, tin and zinc also rose. ​

Key events today: ​

• Earnings season: Woolworths, Nine Entertainment, Domino's Pizza, DroneShield, WiseTech, Worley, Lovisa, Flight Centre, SiteMinder, Adairs (source: CommSec) ​
• July consumer inflation (CPI) - 11.30 am AEST​
• Q4 construction work - 11.30 am​
• Nvidia earnings - tomorrow morning following the closing bell ​

S&P 500: up 27 points or 0.41%

Dow: up 136 points or 0.3%

Nasdaq: up 95 points or 0.44%

VIX: down 1.15% to 14.62

US 10-year treasury yield: down 1 point to 4.268%

Dollar: up 0.13% to 64.9 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): down 0.7% to US$108.56

Brent crude: down US$1.58 or 2.3% to US$67.22

Gold (futures): up US$15.50 or 0.5% to US$3,433

Gold (spot): up US$26.27 or 0.78% to US$3,392.36

Silver (spot): up 4 US cents or 0.11% to US$38.61

Palladium (spot): up US$11.50 or 1.07% to US$1,090.50

Antimony (China ore): up 0.14% to US$19,493

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: up 2.24%

Bitcoin: up 1.68% to US$111,339

Copper (LME): up 0.51% to US$9,846.50

Nickel (LME): up 2.04% to US$15,280

Lithium carbonate (China spot battery grade): down 0.83% to US$10,080

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: down 0.09%

Uranium (spot): up 0.68% to US$74.50

Global X Uranium ETF (URA): up 2.43%

BHP: down 0.22% (US); down 0.39% (UK)

Rio Tinto: down 0.61% (US); down 0.52% (UK) ​