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

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


Outlook for the day: Positive. The ASX 200 looks likely to reverse yesterday's weakness as the curtain falls on a volatile month of trading and after the Dow hits a new high.

ASX futures: up 51 points or 0.64%


Overnight themes:

• US stocks finished mixed as the Dow climbed to a record, while Nvidia's earnings weighed on the Nasdaq and S&P 500.
• The Dow's recent run of record closes continued with a gain of 0.59% as a broad rally lifted 27 of its 30 component companies. The blue-chip average has broken new ground several times in recent months as this year's Wall Street rally broadened away from the Magnificent Seven group of market leaders.
• The Nasdaq fell 0.23% after Nvidia's Q2 earnings failed to meet sky-high expectations. The AI chip-maker beat analyst forecasts on the top and bottom lines, but saw its shares tumble 6.38% after it forecast revenue gains that were slightly more subdued than some stock-pickers anticipated.
• "Death, taxes, and NVDA beats on earnings are three things you can bank on. Here’s the issue, the size of the beat this time was much smaller than we’ve been seeing. Even future guidance was raised, but again not by the tune from previous quarters. This is a great company that is still growing revenue at 122%, but it appears the bar was just set a tad too high this earnings season” - Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group (per CNBC).
• The S&P 500 finished almost dead flat as resource stocks rebounded and industrials and banks rallied, offsetting weakness in tech, consumer staples, real estate and communication services.
• Companies leveraged to economic growth outperformed after Q2 US GDP was revised up to 3% from an original reading of 2.8%, and first-time claims for unemployment benefits eased by 2,000 last week to 231,000.
• Energy was the best of the sectors, rising 1.26% as oil rose for the first time in three sessions. Crude prices were supported by a dispute between warring regional leaderships in major producer Libya that has knocked a hole in the nation's crude production. Libyan output has fallen by almost 500,000 barrels a day, according to ING, as rebel leaders in the east enforce a blockade. Brent crude bounced 1.6% overnight to US$79.94 a barrel.
• Other sectors to see solid gains were financials +0.85%, industrials +0.7% and materials +0.56%.
• Gold futures settled at their 32nd all-time high of the year. Gold for December delivery rallied 0.9% to settle at US$2,560.30 an ounce, US$5.10 above the previous peak set on Monday.
• “Geopolitical issues remain dominant, a move to dedollarize along with the Western gold investor flipping from selling mode into buying mode last month. Central banks to individuals are loading up on a store of safety during uncertain times” - Peter Spina, founder and president of investor website GoldSeek.com (per MarketWatch).

Key events today:

• Corporate earnings: Appen, Ramsay Health Care, Downer EDI and TPG Telecom (source: CommSec)
• July retail sales - 11.30 am AEST
• Private sector credit - 11.30 am
• US July inflation data (PCE) - tonight

S&P 500: unchanged

Dow: up 244 points or 0.59%

Nasdaq: down 40 points or 0.23%

Dollar: up 0.24% to 67.99 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): up 0.53% to US$106.93

Brent crude: up US$1.29 or 1.6% to US$74.94

Gold (futures): up US$22.50 or 0.9% to US$2,560.30

Gold (spot): up US$11 or 0.44% to US$2,519

Silver: up 23 US cents or 0.79% to US$29.41

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: up 1.53%

Bitcoin: up 0.37% to US$59,471

Copper (LME): up 0.12% to US$9,272

Nickel (LME): down 0.03% to US$16,990

Lithium carbonate (China): steady at 74,250 yuan

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: up 1.88%

Uranium (spot): steady at US$80

BHP: up 1.3% (US); up 0.92% (UK)

Rio Tinto: up 0.51% (US); up 0.79% (UK)