Day trading pre-market open March 6

Morning traders. Thanks loungers, especially @Ravgnome.


Outlook for the day: Negative following tech-led selling on Wall Street.

ASX futures: down 10 points or 0.13%


Overnight themes:

• A sharp reversal in high-flying megacap tech stocks drags the major US indices to solid losses.
• The Nasdaq briefly loses more than 2% before paring its fall to 1.65% as Apple and other heavyweights sink. The iPhone manufacturer drops 2.84% following a report that sales have slumped in China this year. Other significant falls include Tesla -3.93%, Microsoft -2.96% and Netflix -2.81%.
• The Dow, less exposed to tech, drops 1.04%. The S&P 500 sheds 1.02%. US stocks had climbed to record levels this year as traders piled into the so-called "Magnificent 7" group of market leaders.
• “The taller they grow, the harder they fall. What’s going on today, internally, is the stuff that has been winning all year long is the stuff that’s getting sold” - Scott Ladner, CIO at Horizon Investments (per CNBC).
• The sell-off precedes an appearance tonight by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell before the House Financial Services Committee. Powell is expected to reiterate the central bank's commitment to holding official rates at current levels until it is sure inflation will return to target.
• "There's going to be very few surprises for the market when Jay Powell goes up to Capitol Hill. His message has largely been pretty clear post the meeting we had at the Fed and that is 'We are going to cut rates at some point this year, it's just not as soon as you thought.'" - Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth.
• The odds on a June rate cut stand at 67.2%, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.
• Wall Street's "fear gauge", the VIX, climbs 8.2% to its highest in around two weeks.
• The tech sector dives 2.19%. Other sectors to lose more than 1% are consumer discretionary and real estate. Just three sectors resist the wave of sellers: energy +0.74%, consumer staples +0.34% and financials +0.13%.
• Soft economic data helps lift gold to a third straight closing high amid expectations that rate cuts could come sooner this year. Reports overnight show services industry growth moderated last month and factory orders contracted 3.6% in January. The yellow metal gains 0.7%.
• Bitcoin suffers a double-digit reversal after hitting a new high. The cryptocurrency smashed its former 2021 peak of US$68,900, hitting US$69,209 overnight, according to MarketWatch. A wave of selling then drove the coin down more than 10%. In recent action, Bitcoin was down 8.38% at US$62,035.

Key events today:

• Q2 GDP - 11.30 am AEDT
• US private payrolls, job openings - tonight
• Testimony by Fed Chair Powell before the House Financial Services Committee - tonight

S&P 500: down 52 points or 1.02%

Dow: down 405 points or 1.04%

Nasdaq: down 268 points or 1.65%

Dollar: down 0.02% to 65.05 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): up 0.69% to US$122.21

Brent crude: down 76 US cents or 0.92% to US$82.04

Gold: up US$15.60 or 0.7% to US$2,141.90

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: up 0.61%

Bitcoin: down 8.38% to US$62,035

Copper (LME): down 0.63% to US$8,489

Nickel (LME): down 1.7% to US$17,645

Uranium (spot price): up 0.22% to US$94

Lithium carbonate (China spot): up 1.42% to US$14,921

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: down 5.2%

BHP: down 0.97% (US); down 0.48% (UK)

Rio Tinto: down 1.62% (US); down 1.26% (UK)