Day trading pre-market open February 26

Morning traders. Thanks loungers, especially @Ravgnome.


Outlook for the day: Tentatively positive following a mixed end to a strong week on Wall Street.

ASX futures: up 4 points or 0.05%


Friday themes:

• The Dow and S&P 500 inch to fresh closing highs as some of last week's under-performing sectors play catch-up.
• The Nasdaq hits a 52-week high before retreating as Thursday's Nvidia-inspired AI euphoria loses some of its heat.
• Nvidia gains 0.36% a day after reigniting the market's faith in the prospects for Artificial Intelligence as a value-driver. Other chip-makers lose ground. The PHLX Semiconductor Index eases 1.12%. Market heavyweights Apple, Meta and Tesla also trim recent gains. Afterpay's US owner Block surges 16.1% after beating earnings estimates.
• The S&P 500 rises as utilities and materials take up the running from the growth sectors that set the pace the session before. The utilities sector (Thursday's only laggard) bounces 0.71%. Materials gains 0.58%, industrials 0.5% and financials 0.33%. Energy, tech, consumer discretionary and communication services lose between 0.2 and 0.6%.
• Friday's session followed the US market's best day in a year. The S&P 500 soared 2.11% on Thursday, its biggest gain since January 2023. The Nasdaq flew up almost 3%.
• For the week, the S&P 500 gains 1.66%, the Nasdaq 1.4% and the Dow 1.3%.
• Oil falls to its lowest in almost two weeks after another Federal Reserve policy-maker pushed back against rate-cut expectations. Fed Governor Chris Waller says there is "no rush" to cut interest rates. Brent crude slides 2.5% to its lowest since Valentines Day.
• “The data that we have received since my last speech [on January 16] has reinforced my view that we need to verify that the progress on inflation we saw in the last half of 2023 will continue. And this means there is no rush to begin cutting interest rates to normalise monetary policy,”- Waller says at a speech in Minneapolis.
• Iron ore trims a losing week with its first rally in China since trade resumed after the Lunar New Year. China-traded ore rise 0.45% on Friday, but finishes 6.5% lower for the week amid weak post-holiday demand signals for steel
• The domestic earnings season wraps up up this week with trading updates from several heavyweights, including Woodside, Coles and Suncorp.

Key events this week:

• Earnings season: today brings Suncorp, Endeavour Group, NIB, Kogan.com, Lynas Rare Earths, TPG Telecom, Nanosonics, Mayne Pharma, Waypoint REIT, Michael Hill, Bubs, Adairs (source: CommSec). Rest of week highlights: Coles, Woodside, Appen (Tue); Flight Centre (Wed); Ramsay Health Care, Karoon Energy (Thu); and Life360 (Fri).
• US consumer confidence, durable goods - Tuesday
• January inflation report (CPI) - Wednesday
• US GDP - Wednesday
• Retail sales, private-sector credit - Thursday
• US inflation (PCE) - Thursday
• China manufacturing PMI - Friday
• US manufacturing PMI - Friday

S&P 500: up 2 points or 0.03%

Dow: up 61 points or 0.16%

Nasdaq: down 45 points or 0.28%

Dollar: up 1.05% to 65.61 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): up 0.45% to US$124.91

Brent crude: down US$2.05 or 2.5% to US$81.62

Gold: up US$18.70 or 0.9% to US$2,049.40

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: up 1.82%

Bitcoin: up 0.35% to US$51,690

Copper (LME): down 0.2% to US$8,567.50

Nickel (LME): up 0.59% to US$17,495

Uranium (spot price): down 3.66% to US$97

Lithium carbonate (China spot): up 0.1% to US$13,379

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: up 0.63%

BHP: down 0.09% (US); up 0.35% (UK)

Rio Tinto: up 0.44% (US); up 0.52% (UK)