Day trading pre-market open August 29

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


Outlook for the day: Negative following overnight weakness on Wall Street and commodity markets, and a negative reaction to this morning's Nvidia's after-market trading update.

ASX futures: down 22 points or 0.27%


Overnight themes:

• US stocks retreated as investors reduced risk ahead of a trading update from Artificial Intelligence poster child Nvidia this morning. Shares in the chip-maker fell sharply in after-market action since the end of regular trade this morning, despite a revenue beat.
• Tech stocks spearheaded losses in regular trade that dragged the Nasdaq down 1.12% and the S&P 500 down 0.6%. The tech-lite Dow lost 0.39%.
• Nvidia lost 2.1% in regular trade, then another 6.2% in recent after-market action amid questions over its growth outlook after its revenue forecast fell short of some analyst outlooks. The company has led an explosive rally in chip stocks this year as demand for AI applications took off. Shares in the company were up more than 150% earlier this year, briefly making it the US's largest company by market valuation.
• "It's been the poster child for the AI boom and it's really led the charge, so it would be hard for the market to move on in spite of a disappointment from Nvidia" - Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments (per Reuters).
• The S&P tech sector fell 1.3% as other chip stocks also declined. Broadcom shed 1.99%. AMD gave up 2.75%. Most of the Magnificent Seven group of market leaders also fell.
• Two sectors resisted the sinking tide: financials +0.3% and health +0.12%.
• Copper and other US dollar-denominated industrial metals sagged as the greenback kicked higher. The US Dollar Index bounced 0.5% overnight off a 13-month low, raising prices of a range of dollar-priced commodities for buyers using other currencies. Benchmark copper dropped 2.22% on the London Metal Exchange.
• “Metals have been rising largely with help of a weak dollar, exiting bears and CTA buying [computerised buying driven by Commodity Trade Advisor investment funds]. The rise has ignored soft economic data from most parts of the world” - Sandeep Daga, a director at Metal Intelligence Centre (per Reuters).
• The greenback's rally also weighed on precious metals, an alternative store of wealth. Gold futures settled 0.59% lower. Spot silver declined almost 3%.
• Oil fell for a second day as the US summer driving season - a seasonal support for fuel demand - neared its conclusion. Brent crude dropped 1.1% to US$78.65 a barrel.

Key events today:

• Corporate earnings: South32, Wesfarmers, IGO, Mineral Resources, Qantas, Sandfire Resources, Atlas Arteria, Bega Cheese, Waypoint REIT, Steadfast, Southern Cross Media, Cromwell Property Group (source: CommSec)
• Q4 private capital expenditure - 11.30 am AEST
• US preliminary GDP - tonight
• US unemployment claims - tonight

S&P 500: down 34 points or 0.6%

Dow: down 159 points or 0.39%

Nasdaq: down 199 points or 1.12%

Dollar: down 0.04% to 67.84 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): down 0.54% to US$105.81

Brent crude: down 90 US cents or 1.1% to US$78.65

Gold (futures): down US$15.10 or 0.59% to US$2,537.80

Gold (spot): down US$21.98 or 0.87% to US$2,503.27

Silver: down 88 US cents or 2.94% to US$29.13

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: down 2.22%

Bitcoin: down 3.2% to US$59,412

Copper (LME): down 2.22% to US$9,238.50

Nickel (LME): down 0.99% to US$16,995

Lithium carbonate (China): down 0.07% to 74,250 yuan

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: down 1.63%

Uranium (spot): up 1.09% to US$80

BHP: down 2.25% (US); down 1.53% (UK)

Rio Tinto: down 1.56% (US); down 1.17% (UK)