Day trading pre-market open March 18

Morning traders. Thanks loungers, especially @Ravgnome.


Outlook for the day: Mildly negative for the start of a week likely to be dominated by interest rate decisions (Aus, US, Japan) and domestic employment data.

ASX futures: down 13 points or 0.17%


Friday themes:

• US stocks fall for a second straight week as inflation worries mount ahead of this week's Federal Reserve policy meeting.
• The high-flying tech sector continues to lose altitude after setting the pace for much of this year. Tesla is the only one of the "Magnificent 7" group of market leaders to advance, gaining 0.66%. Microsoft and Amazon lose more than 2%. Nvidia dips 0.12%, extending its weekly loss to around 0.4%.
• Treasury yields continue to rise after unexpectedly warm consumer and wholesale inflation reports earlier in the week dent expectations for rate cuts as soon as June. The yield on 10-year US treasuries climbs around 22 basis points across the week.
• Volumes are higher than normal during a "triple witching" event as various quarterly market derivatives expire.
• A report shows consumer sentiment is broadly unchanged in March, halfway between the inflation-surge lows of 2022 and pre-pandemic levels. The University of Michigan's sentiment index dips to 76.5 from 76.9 in February, well within the margin of error. Economists had expected a modest improvement to 77.4.
• Sectors dominated by the Magnificent 7 lead the selling. Tech loses 1.29%, communication services 1.18% and consumer discretionary 1.14%.
• Energy is the best of the sectors with a rise of 0.23%. Also positive: utilities +0.12%, materials +0.08% and industrials +0.08%.
• A dire week for iron ore continues with prices in China slumping to the lowest in almost seven months. The most-traded ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange drops almost 3.5% to a level last seen in August. The contract declined 11% across the week as steel associations called for production cuts in the face of weak demand.
• Oil steps back from its highest level since November. Brent crude eases 0.1%. The US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, drops around 0.3%. Brent crude gained 4% last week as US inventories declined and the International Energy Agency raised its demand forecast for the year.
• Gold logs its first losing week in a month as traders trimmed bets on imminent rate cuts. The yellow metal eases 0.3% on Friday for a weekly loss of 1.1%.
• The Reserve Bank starts a two-day meeting today that climaxes tomorrow afternoon with the cash rate announcement and press conference. The US Federal Reserve also meets this week. The new federal funds rate target will be announced on Wednesday night, Australian time.

Key events this week:

• China industrial production, retail sales - 1 pm AEDT
• RBA interest rate decision - Tuesday
• US Federal Reserve interest rate decision - Wednesday
• February jobs report - Thursday
• Flash manufacturing, services PMIs - Thursday
• US flash manufacturing, services PMIs - Thursday
• Address by Fed Chair Powell - Friday

S&P 500: down 33 points or 0.65%

Dow: down 191 points or 0.49%

Nasdaq: down 155 points or 0.96%

Dollar: up 0.02% to 65.61 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): down 3.46% to US$108.61

Brent crude: down 8 US cents or 0.1% to US$85.34

Gold: down US$6 or 0.3% to US$2,161.50

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: up 0.52%

Bitcoin: up 2.23% to US$68,410

Copper (LME): up 2.08% to US$9,072

Nickel (LME): down 0.02% to US$18,074

Uranium (spot price): up 2.21% to US$86.50

Lithium carbonate (China spot): down 0.07% to US$15,603

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: unchanged

BHP: down 0.66% (US); down 1.2% (UK)

Rio Tinto: up 0.21% (US); up 0.41% (UK)