Day trading pre-market open July 28

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


Outlook for the day: Australian stock futures point to a modestly negative open, however overnight news of a US-EU trade deal could trigger a significantly stronger start to the week.

ASX futures: down 5 points or 0.06%


Overnight themes: ​

• US stocks hit new heights on Friday amid optimism that a trade deal with the European Union was close. ​
• The S&P 500 advanced 0.4% to a fifth straight record close. The Nasdaq Composite also closed at a record after gaining 0.24%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 208 points or 0.47%. ​
• Stocks rose ahead of a weekend meeting in Scotland between US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Overnight, the White House and EU announced they had reached a trade deal that includes a 15% tariff on most European imports but avert a full-blown trade war. The EU will invest an additional US$600 billion in the US and buy US military and energy products. ​
• “It’s a very powerful deal, it’s a very big deal, it’s the biggest of all the deals,” Trump told reporters. Von der Leyen said the deal “will bring stability, it will bring predictability that’s very important for our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.” Details will be sorted over the next few weeks, she added. ​
• Nine of eleven S&P sectors rose on Friday, led by materials +1.17% and industrials +0.98%. The two sectors that dragged were energy –0.4% and communication services –0.19%. ​
• The first big week of quarterly trading updates handed the S&P 500 a weekly gain of around 1.5%, the Dow 1.3% and the Nasdaq 1%. Earnings season continues this week with updates from four of the “Magnificent Seven” as more than 150 S&P 500 companies report (more below). ​
• “The bull market lives on, supported largely by favorable fundamentals,” Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, told CNBC. “Inflation is stable, interest rates are range-bound and earnings are trending higher, and that presents a favorable backward drop for stocks to trend higher. We still look for a risk-on bias to be intact as we move through this earnings season.” ​
• A rebound in US dollar index from a two-week low weighed on industrial and precious metals. (A stronger greenback raises prices of dollar-denominated commodities for buyers using other currencies.) Spot gold dropped US$31.42 or 0.93% to US$3,336.98 an ounce as a US-Japan trade deal sapped some of the market’s recent appetite for havens. US gold futures settled US$37.90 or 1.11% lower at US$3,335.60. On the London Metal Exchange, copper declined 1.09% to US$9,769.50 a metric ton. Aluminium, nickel, zinc, tin and lead shed between 0.42% and 1.63%. ​
• "The Japan deal was significant, and there's hope for a U.S.-EU agreement before the August 1 deadline. That's sapping safe-haven demand as elevated risk appetite drives capital toward risk assets," Peter Grant, vice president and senior metals strategist at Zaner Metals, told Reuters. ​
• Iron ore held on for a fifth straight weekly advance despite leaking gains across the second half of last week. Benchmark ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange eased 1.11% on Friday to US$112.01 a metric ton. The China benchmark gained 1% for the week despite finishing on a three-session losing run. Prices fell on Friday after the World Steel Association reported a 5.8% year-on-year contraction in global steel production last month. ​
• Oil fell after Trump suggested the odds on a trade deal with the EU were 50:50, dampening hopes of a breakthrough. Brent crude settled 74 US cents or 1.1% lower at US$68.44 a barrel. ​

Key events this week: ​

• US earnings this week: Boeing, Procter & Gamble, UnitedHealth, UPS (Tue); Microsoft, Meta (Wed); Apple, Amazon, Coinbase (Thu); and Chevron, Exxon Mobil (Fri). ​
• US job openings – Tuesday ​
• US consumer confidence – Tuesday ​
• Quarterly consumer inflation (CPI) - Wednesday ​
• US private payrolls – Wednesday ​
• US advance GDP – Wednesday ​
• US Federal Reserve interest rate decision – Wednesday ​
• Retail sales – Thursday ​
• Building approvals – Thursday ​
• China manufacturing and services PMIs – Thursday ​
• US consumer inflation (PCE) - Thursday ​
• Quarterly wholesale inflation – Friday ​
• China manufacturing PMI – Friday ​
• US June employment - Friday ​
• US manufacturing - Friday ​

S&P 500: up 25 points or 0.4%

Dow: up 208 points or 0.47%

Nasdaq: up 50 points or 0.24%

VIX: down 2.99% to 14.93

US 10-year treasury yield: 4.392%

Dollar: up 0.21% to 65.76 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): down 1.11% to US$112.01

Brent crude: down 74 US cents or 1.1% to US$68.44

Gold (futures): down US$37.90 or 1.11% to US$3,335.60

Gold (spot): down US$31.42 or 0.93% to US$3,336.98

Silver (spot): down 89 US cents or 2.29% to US$38.16

Palladium (spot): down US$31.50 or 2.44% to US$1,260

Antimony (China ore): down 0.14% to US$19,848

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: up 0.78%

Bitcoin: up 0.76% to US$118,966

Copper (LME): down 1.09% to US$9,769.50

Nickel (LME): down 0.94% to US$15,320

Lithium carbonate (China spot battery grade): up 3.19% to 8,987 yuan

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: up 0.34%

Uranium (spot): down 1.22% to US$71.13

Global X Uranium ETF (URA): down 0.78%

BHP: down 1.72% (US); down 1.45% (UK)

Rio Tinto: down 1.14% (US); down 0.84% (UK) ​