Day trading pre-market open January 17, page-4

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


Outlook for the day: Flat/modestly positive after the ASX pre-empted a weak night on Wall Street with a 1.09% retreat yesterday.

ASX futures: up 4 points or 0.05%


Overnight themes:

• US stocks sink as banks fall after reporting earnings and a Federal Reserve official says there is no rush to cut interest rates.
• The major indices lose between 0.19% and 0.62% after a mid-morning recovery falters.
• Treasury yields rally after Fed Governor Chris Waller says he is "more confident" that inflation is falling to target levels, but the central bank should "move carefully and methodically" on interest rates.
• "The data we have received the last few months is allowing the Committee to consider cutting the policy rate in 2024..." Waller told a Brookings Institution event. However, policy changes should "be carefully calibrated and not rushed".
• The odds on a March rate cut fall to 60% after Waller's comments from around 73% before he spoke. The yield on 10-year US treasuries jumps almost 12 basis points, back above 4%.
• "What is happening today is... a broader consolidation of markets around that idea that investors had gotten a little too optimistic about how willing the Fed would be to ease rates" - Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird (per Reuters).
• Morgan Stanley drops 4.2% after reporting a decline in quarterly profit. Goldman Sachs firms 0.72%. Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase added to losses after Friday's poorly-received trading updates. The S&P 500 banks index falls to its lowest in more than a month.
• Boeing dives 7.9% after the US regulator grounds its 737 MAX 9 airplanes indefinitely and Wells Fargo lowers its rating.
• Resource stocks lead the US sell-off. The energy sector loses 2.4%. Materials declines 1.19%. Tech is the only sector to advance, inching up 0.39%
• Iron ore nears its lowest in a month as China's failure to cut rates on Monday raised questions about the market's stimulus hopes. Ore prices rallied late last year on expectations that sluggish economic data would encourage the government to support the economy. Dalian ore eased 0.6% yesterday to a level last seen on December 20.
• "Economic data releases have continued to be disappointing, while financial markets are irrationally demanding more stimulus - most recently being disappointed by the [People's Bank of China's] decision to leave the 1YR medium-term lending facility rate unchanged" - Atilla Widnell, managing director at Navigate Commodities (per Reuters).

Key events today:

• China new home prices - 12.30 pm AEDT
• China factory output, retail sales, etc - 1 pm
• US December retail sales - tonight

S&P 500: down 18 points or 0.37%

Dow: down 232 points or 0.62%

Nasdaq: down 28 points or 0.19%

Dollar: down 1% to 65.85 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): down 0.6% to US$130.65

Brent crude: up 14 US cents or 0.18% to US$78.29

Gold: down US$21.40 or 1.05% to US$2,030.20

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: down 4.06%

Bitcoin: up 1.26% to US$43,297

Copper (LME): down 0.06% to US$8,376

Nickel (LME): up 0.81% to US$16,270

Uranium (spot price): steady at US$108

Lithium carbonate (China spot): up 0.46% to US$13,442.45

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: down 1.75% (3-year low)

BHP: down 2.77% (US); down 1.12% (UK)

Rio Tinto: down 1.55% (US); up 0.46% (UK)