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

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


Outlook for the day: Cautiously positive after mining and financial stocks outperformed during a modest down-night in the US.

ASX futures: up 11 points or 0.14%


Overnight themes:

• A late dip left US stocks modestly lower ahead of after-hours earnings this morning from market heavyweights Alphabet and Tesla.
• A day after its best session in more than a month, the S&P 500 eased 0.16% in the final minutes of trade. The Nasdaq gave up 0.06% and the Dow 0.14%.
• "This is reflective of investors’ holding pattern as they digest the combination of earnings, economic data and U.S. political developments” - Greg Bassuk, CEO at AXS Investments (per CNBC).
• The major indices were weighed down by earnings disappointments from household names. UPS and General Motors both fell heavily. Spotify and Coca-Cola rose.
• Google-owner Alphabet and Tesla released Q2 earnings season shortly after this morning's closing bell, the first of the Magnificent Seven group of market leaders to report. Alphabet was down 1.5% in recent after-hours trade after earlier rising more than 2.4%. Tesla was off 4.6% after missing profit expectations.
• "We're paying attention to earnings, as that's what matters this week and next, and the price reaction to those earnings will be very telling" - Jack Janasiewicz, lead portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers (per Reuters).
• Investors continued to rotate into small caps during the regular session. The Russell 2000 index put on 1.02%.
• Eight of eleven S&P sectors finished in the red. Energy and utilities were the biggest drags. The night's best performers were materials +0.38%, financials +0.08% and consumer discretionary +0.02%.
• Copper fell for a seventh straight session to a three-and-a-half-month low as Monday's China rate cut appeared to do little to soothe demand worries. Benchmark copper prices on London Metal Exchange dropped 0.65% to US$9,157 a metric ton. Analysts pointed to rising stockpiles and disappointment over the failure of the Third Plenum to generate concrete economic support measures.
• Iron ore traded at three-month lows as analysts lowered their demand expectations for China. ANZ analysts said sentiment had been dented by a lack of fresh support measures for China's real estate market. Benchmark ore declined 2.06% in China to US$107.99 a metric ton.
• Oil fell for a fourth night, settling at a six-week low. Brent crude declined US$1.39 or 1.69% to US$81.01 a barrel.

Key events today:

• Flash manufacturing, services PMIs - 9 am AEST
• US flash manufacturing, services PMIs - tonight

S&P 500: down 9 points or 0.16%

Dow: down 57 points or 0.14%

Nasdaq: down 10 points or 0.06%

Dollar: down 0.36% to 66.15 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): down 2.06% to US$107.99

Brent crude: down US$1.39 or 1.69% to US$81.01

Gold: up US$12.60 or 0.53% to US$2,407.30

Silver: up 1 US cent or 0.03% to US$29.33

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: up 0.47%

Bitcoin: down 2.93% to US$65,939

Copper (LME): down 0.65% to US$9,157

Nickel (LME): down 0.83% to US$16,045

Lithium carbonate (China futures): steady

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: down 2.34%

Uranium (spot): steady at US$84.25

BHP: down 1.22% (US); down 1.49% (UK)

Rio Tinto: down 0.72% (US); down 1.47% (UK)