Day trading pre-market open January 4

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


Outlook for the day: Negative following a second night of losses on Wall Street.

ASX futures: down 19 points or 0.25%


Overnight themes:

• US stocks fall for a second day as the minutes from last month's Federal Reserve policy meeting fail to alleviate concerns that financial markets are too optimistic about interest rate cuts this year.
• The Nasdaq leads the selling for a second session as traders book profits on the big winners from last year's blistering November-December rally. The Dow and S&P 500 also decline.
• "We've had quite the rally off the October lows, and a lot of indicators are screaming overbought, so it's not surprising to see a little bit of a breather" - Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions (per Reuters).
• The three major stock indices add to early losses after the minutes from the December Fed meeting show officials believe the risk from inflation has diminished, but several participants think rates may have to stay restrictive for some time. While "almost all" participants think rates will be "appropriate" by year-end, the minutes give no indication when cuts may commence. The bank meets at the end of this month, but is not expected to act. Market pricing suggests the odds on a March cut are around 70%.
• The US dollar index holds most of its gains following the release of the minutes, lately up 0.28%. The US 10-year treasury yield dips more than two basis points to 3.913%.
• Rate-sensitive property and growth stocks are among the night's major drags, along with mining and industrial stocks. The real estate sector drops 2.35%, consumer discretionary 1.88%, industrials 1.51%, materials 1.11% and tech 1.02%.
• The energy sector jumps 1.52% as oil rebounds. Brent crude bounces 3.1% after an explosion near a cemetery in Iran kills a Hamas leader. Elsewhere, protests shut down Libya's largest oilfield.
• Iron ore surges for a second day as traders bet on more stimulus measures to support Chinese growth. China-traded ore climbs 2.8% to a fresh 28-month high.
• Gold slides 1.5% as the US dollar and treasury yields reverse some recent weakness.
• Bitcoin unwinds its New Year gains ahead of a US regulatory decision on whether BlackRock can launch a crypto ETF. The token slumps more than 5% below US$43,000 a coin after trading as high as US$45,913.30 yesterday, its highest price since April 2022.

Key events today:

• China December services PMI - 12.45 pm AEDT
• US December private payrolls - tonight

S&P 500: down 38 points or 0.8%

Dow: down 285 points or 0.76%

Nasdaq: down 174 points or 1.18%

Dollar: down 0.59% to 67.26 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): up 2.8% to US$142.50

Brent crude: up US$2.36 or 3.11% to US$78.25

Gold: down US$30.60 or 1.5% to US$2,042.80

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: down 2.7%

Bitcoin: down 5.07% to US$42,769

Copper (LME): down 0.35% to US$8,515

Nickel (LME): down 1.15% to US$16,390

Uranium: steady at US$93.25

Lithium carbonate (China spot): down 0.3% to US$13,575.69

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: down 1.97%

BHP: down 1.09% (US); down 2% (UK)

Rio Tinto: down 0.96% (US); down 1.92% (UK)