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

Morning traders. Thanks loungers, especially @Ravgnome.


Outlook for the day: Mildly negative as commodity price weakness and a third straight loss for the Dow offset record closes for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite.

ASX futures: down 8 points or 0.1%


Overnight themes:

• The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite logged record closes for a fourth night as a drop in wholesale inflation bolstered optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The Dow continued to trail as megacap tech stocks dominate index moves.
• Interest-rate sensitive tech, real estate and utilities set the pace as the S&P 500 edged up 0.23%.
• The Nasdaq gained 0.34%, thanks to Nvidia, Broadcom and other chip-makers after Broadcom hiked its revenue outlook. Tesla, Apple, Netflix and Microsoft also rose.
• The tech-lite Dow fell for a third night, losing 0.17%.
• Stocks rallied and treasury yields retreated after producer prices declined 0.2% last month, defying expectations for an increase of around 0.1%. The report, coming on the back of a dip in consumer price growth announced the day before, sharpened expectations that the Federal Reserve may cut rates as soon as September.
• “The May CPI and PPI data are favorable for our view that the Fed will be reducing its policy rate later this year” - Bank of America economist Stephen Juneau (per CNBC).
• Also aiding the case for rate cuts: initial claims for unemployment benefits were the highest last week since August 2023. First-time claims rose to 242,000 from 229,000 the week prior.
• A 1.36% surge in the tech sector dominated a rally in which only four of eleven sectors advanced. Drags included energy -0.89%, industrials -0.64% and financials -0.2%.
• "It's still very much a tech story... When you look at the broader market, you're not seeing the participation you would like to see from a healthier market" - Paul Nolte, senior wealth advisor and market strategist at Murphy & Sylvest (per Reuters).
• Gold, copper and other US dollar-denominated commodities fell as a rebound in the greenback increased prices for buyers using other currencies. The Bloomberg Commodity Index dropped 0.59%. Copper gave up 1.58% in London, nickel 1.48% and tin 1.59%. Gold skidded 1.56%. The US dollar bounced overnight after the Federal Reserve signalled it may cut benchmark rates just once this year.
• Iron ore rebounded as China's central bank spruiked financial support for affordable housing. Benchmark prices rallied 0.93% on the Dalian Commodity Exchange.

Key events today:

• US consumer sentiment - tonight

S&P 500: up 13 points or 0.23%

Dow: down 65 points or 0.17%

Nasdaq: up 59 points or 0.34%

Dollar: down 0.39% to 66.37 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): up 0.93% to US$112.66

Brent crude: up 15 US cents or 0.18% to US$82.75

Natural gas (US futures): down 4.15% to US$2.92

Gold: down US$36.80 or 1.56% to US$2,318

Silver: US$1.20 or 3.96% to US$29.07

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: down 2.45%

Bitcoin: down 2.2% to US$66,591

Copper (LME): down 1.58% to US$9,787

Nickel (LME): down 1.48% to US$17,729

Uranium (spot price): up 2.95% to US$86

Lithium carbonate (China spot): down 0.07% to US$13,684

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: down 2.24%

BHP: down 0.07% (US); down 0.71% (UK)

Rio Tinto: down 0.24% (US); down 0.25% (UK)