Day trading pre-market open July 9

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


Outlook for the day: Moderately negative following a mixed night for US stocks and commodities.

ASX futures: down 7 points or 0.08%


Overnight themes:

• US stocks finished mixed but little changed as investors waited for clarity on the White House's constantly-shifting trade policies. The major benchmarks steadied after the threat of hefty tariffs on a string of trading partners triggered a sharp sell-off on Monday.
• The S&P 500 chopped in and out of positive territory before closing less than 0.1% in the red. The Nasdaq Composite eked out a gain of 0.03%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 0.37%.
• The market struggled for direction as the White House continued to issue conflicting messages on tariffs. After telling reporters on Monday that the revised August 1 deadline for trade deals was "not 100% firm", President Donald Trump posted overnight that there would be extensions to that date. He also announced a 50% tariff on copper imports, triggering a wild rally in US-traded futures of the metal (more below). Additionally, the president said new duties on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals were on the way and he was within days of sending the European Union a tariff letter.
• Analysts noted the major stock indices largely held their ground during the latest developments. “Investor sentiment has shifted a lot in a very short period of time and become more optimistic, as we can see in equity market pricing and how we’re right around all time highs across multiple indices,” Bill Merz, head of capital markets research at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, told CNBC. Carol Schleif, chief market strategist at BMO Private Wealth, told Reuters: "The fact that markets are holding in pretty tight, still just an eyelash away from all-time highs, shows investors are willing to give headlines the benefit of the doubt."
• Small caps outperformed their larger peers. The Russell 2000 index put on 0.66%.
• S&P sectors split roughly 50:50. Energy and materials were the night's best performers, adding 2.72% and 0.53%, respectively. Health, tech and industrials also closed positive. Drags included consumer staples -1.09% and financials -0.9%.
• US copper hit an all-time high after Trump told reporters he would announce a tariff of 50% on imports of the metal to incentivise local production. Copper futures on Comex jumped as much as 13.3% before paring their rally to 9.42% at US$5.50 a pound in recent trade. Earlier, benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange dropped 2.52% to US$9,583.20 a metric ton.
• US gold miners sank as moderate but steady recoveries in the greenback and treasury yields sapped appetite for alternative stores of wealth. US gold futures settled US$25.90 or 0.8% lower at US$3,316.90 an ounce as the yield on 10-year US treasuries climbed to its highest in more than two weeks. The US dollar index rose to its highest in almost two weeks before giving up most of its gains. Spot gold was lately down US$35.92 or 1.08% to US$3,301.12. The NYSE Arca Gold BUGS index shed 5.02%.
• Iron ore steadied amid tentative optimism that the latest threat of higher US import tariffs will prove to be a negotiating tactic, rather than the final duties on goods from Asia and other producers. Benchmark ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange ended daytime trade with a gain of 0.14% at US$102.21 a metric ton.

Key events today:

• China June inflation data - 11.30 am AEST
• Minutes from most recent US Federal Reserve policy meeting - tonight

S&P 500: down 4 points or 0.07%

Dow: down 166 points or 0.37%

Nasdaq: up 6 points or 0.03%

VIX: down 5.51% to 16.81

US 10-year treasury yield: up 2.5 points to 4.41%

Dollar: up 0.33% to 65.28 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): up 0.14% to US$102.21

Brent crude: up 57 US cents or 0.8% to US$70.15

Gold (futures): down US$25.90 or 0.8% to US$3,316.90

Gold (spot): down US$35.92 or 1.08% to US$3,301.12

Silver (spot): down 2 US cents or 0.07% to US$36.75

Palladium (spot): up 50 US cents or 0.04% to US$1,123.50

Antimony (China ore): down 0.13% to US$19,804

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: down 5.02%

Bitcoin: up 0.75% to US$108,798

Copper (LME): down 2.51% to US$9,583.20

Nickel (LME): down 0.76% to US$15,015

Lithium carbonate (China spot battery grade): up 0.43% to 7,737 yuan

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: up 3.3%

Uranium (spot): down 2.02% to US$74

Global X Uranium ETF (URA): down 2.53%

BHP: down 0.06% (US); up 0.77% (UK)

Rio Tinto: up 1.86% (US); up 1.3% (UK)