Day trading pre-market open February 28

Morning traders. Thanks loungers, especially @Ravgnome.

Outlook for the day: Positive ahead of inflation data that could move the needle on interest rate cuts.

ASX futures: up 23 points or 0.3%

Overnight themes:

Wall Street's main benchmarks finished mixed but mostly higher ahead of anxiously-anticipated inflation data tomorrow.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq edged higher as the utilities and communication services sectors drew a bid. The newly-added Amazon weighed on the Dow for a second session.

Central bank policymakers continued to push back against market expectations that rate cuts are just around the corner. Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said she "will remain cautious" in considering any change to current policy. Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid said "there is no need to pre-emptively adjust the stance of policy".

The Fed's preferred measure of inflation, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, is scheduled for release on Thursday night, Australian time. The Australian Bureau of Statistics releases January inflation data this morning.

"The market is getting at least attuned to the fact they are not going to get what they want and so it is backing up... You're going to see it fade in a hurry if the PCE number comes in as expected or hotter than expected" - Ken Polcari, managing partner at Kace Capital Advisors (per Reuters).

Data overnight showed consumer confidence fell for the first time in four months and orders for long-lasting manufactured goods declined more than expected. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index dropped to 106.7 this month from 110.9 in January as political uncertainty and job worries increased. Orders for durable goods slumped 6.1%, the biggest contraction in four years in a sign the economy lost momentum in January.

Energy was the worst of the S&P sectors, falling 0.43% despite a rally in oil. Also soft were health -0.27% and consumer staples -0.02%. On the positive side of the ledger, utilities gained 1.89%, communication services 1.03% and materials 0.35%.

Oil rallied after US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said strong US growth was driving the global economy, helping avoid the threat of a hard landing. Yellen said the a slowdown in the global economy forecast by the International Monetary Fund for last year had not happened and the global economy "remains resilient". Brent crude lifted 1.36% overnight.

“One of the reasons why oil prices were subdued was the market was betting that we were headed towards a global recession. If that does not happen…we see a situation where the supplies will tighten significantly in the next quarter” - Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at The Price Futures Group.

Iron ore rebounded from four-month lows following reports that India was considering reintroducing an export tax on low-grade iron ore as its steel-makers battle rising prices in the domestic market.

Key events today:

Earnings season: Flight Centre, Worley, Perpetual, Kelsian, Spark New Zealand, Steadfast Group, Swoop Holdings, Enero Group (source: CommSec).

January inflation report (CPI) - 11.30 am AEDT

US Q4 preliminary GDP - tonight

S&P 500: up 9 points or 0.17%

Dow: down 97 points or 0.25%

Nasdaq: up 59 points or 0.37%

Dollar: up 0.07% to 65.44 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): up 1.24% to US$124.70

Brent crude: up US$1.12 or 1.36% to US$83.65

Gold: up US$5.20 or 0.3% to US$2,044.10

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: down 0.82%

Bitcoin: up 5% to US$57,203

Copper (LME): up 0.28% to US$8,490

Nickel (LME): up 2.63% to US$17,545

Uranium (spot price): steady at US$97.50

Lithium carbonate (China spot): up 0.54% to US$13,477

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: up 1.72%

BHP: up 0.93% (US); up 1.29% (UK)

Rio Tinto: up 0.48% (US); up 0.89% (UK)