Day trading pre-market open July 18

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


Outlook for the day: Negative following volatility on Wall Street and ahead of Australian employment data this morning.

ASX futures: down 43 points or 0.54%


Overnight themes:

• A night of sharp contrasts among the major US share benchmarks saw the Dow hit a third straight record while tariff worries smashed the Nasdaq and S&P 500.
• The Dow climbed 0.59% a day after its best session in more than a year. UnitedHealth was the biggest contributor for a second day, rising 4.45% following Tuesday's trading update. More than two-thirds of the Average's component companies advanced.
• The Nasdaq and S&P 500 plunged following reports that the White House was considering imposing tough trade restrictions on semiconductors as part of a mounting trade war with China. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index crashed 6.81% in response. Nvidia gave up 6.62%.
• The Nasdaq dived 2.77% to its worst loss since December 2022.
• The S&P 500 shed 1.39% as investors continued to sell out of the megacap tech stocks that have driven this year's rally. Meta lost 5.68%, Tesla 3.14%, Amazon 2.64%, Apple 2.53%, Alphabet 1.58% and Microsoft 1.33%.
• The longest winning run for the Russell 2000 index of small caps for four years ended with a reversal of 1.06%. The index had put on more than 11.5% in five sessions.
• The carnage on the Nasdaq and S&P 500 was "driven by pressure in the chip area, and the first time, we're actually seeing it extend into small caps... The U.S. is increasingly talking about cracking down [on China], which has exacerbated the unwind that had already started" - Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management (per Reuters).
• Wall Street's "fear gauge", the VIX, climbed to its highest in six weeks.
• Growth sectors bore the brunt of the selling. Tech shed 3.72%, communication services 2.09% and consumer discretionary 1.8%. Industrials and materials were also weak.
• The night's top-performing sectors were consumer staples +1.43%, energy +1.08% and financials +0.85%.
• Copper continued to fall amid worries about rising inventories and China demand. Stocks at London Metal Exchange warehouses have doubled since the start of last month to their highest since September 2021, according to Reuters. Benchmark copper on the LME eased 0.49% despite a four-month low for the US dollar.
• Iron ore declined for a second session, trading near three-week lows as extreme storms battering China delayed construction work. Benchmark ore dropped 2.7% in China.
• Oil rallied for the first time in four sessions after a weekly US report showed a third straight decline in the nation's crude inventories, implying improved demand. Brent crude bounced 1.61% to US$85.08 a barrel.
• Gold hit a new all-time high overnight before settling lower. Futures for the precious metal traded as high as US$2,488.40 an ounce before fading to a loss of 0.32% at US$2,459.90.

Key events today:

• June jobs report - 11.30 am AEST (expected: +19,900 jobs; 4.1% unemployment)
• Eurozone interest rate decision - tonight

S&P 500: down 79 points or 1.39%

Dow: up 244 points or 0.59%

Nasdaq: down 512 points or 2.77%

Dollar: down 0.04% to 67.29 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): down 2.7% to US$110.78

Brent crude: up US$1.35 or 1.61% to US$85.08

Gold: down US$7.90 or 0.32% to US$2,459.90

Silver: US$1.08 or 3.43% to US$30.38

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: down 1.69%

Bitcoin: down 0.4% to US$64,429

Copper (LME): down 0.49% to US$9,616

Nickel (LME): down 1.37% to US$16,510

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: down 2.03%

Uranium (spot): steady at US$86

BHP: down 0.37% (US); up 0.32% (UK)

Rio Tinto: down 0.83% (US); no change (UK)