Outlook for the day: Neutral after Wall Street's fierce November rally takes a breather.
ASX futures: down 1 point or 0.01%
Overnight themes:
Disappointing outlooks from Walmart and Cisco and a plunge in energy stocks help put a temporary brake on Wall Street's bull run. The major indices finish mixed after a strong run fuelled by signs inflation is cooling fast enough for the Federal Reserve to leave benchmark rates on hold.
Retailers unwind some of Thursday's gains after bellwether stock Walmart warns consumers are reining in spending. Shares in the retail giant sink 8.09%.
Cisco dives 9.83% after slashing revenue and profit forecasts to reflect slowing demand. Earnings from Palo Alto Networks also miss expectations.
Paul Nolte, senior wealth manager and market strategist at Murphy & Sylvest said the night's trading updates "calls a little bit into question the health of the consumer and maybe the health of the technology sector."
The energy sector drops 2.5% as oil slumps to its lowest in four months. Soft US economic data and rising crude inventories raise questions about demand. Overnight data included a 0.6% decline in US industrial output, a rise in claims for unemployment benefits and contractions in builder confidence and the Philadelphia Fed's gauge of regional business activity. The yield on 10-year US treasuries drops more than 8 points to 4.445%.
More sectors rise than fall. Gainers include communication services, utilities, tech, real estate, financials, health and materials. Energy and consumer staples are the biggest drags.
Iron ore retreats after China's state-backed commodity exchange imposes daily trading limits on ore futures to rein in soaring prices. The Dalian exchange limits trade to 500 lots on contracts for delivery from January to May next year. Singapore futures inch up 0.1%.
"The recent sentiment-driven surge in iron ore prices has caught the attention of Chinese authorities... The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is investigating what they consider to be 'unreasonably high' prices, and the Dalian has adjusted iron ore futures trading limits" - Atilla Widnell, managing director at Navigate Commodities.
Key events today:
US building permits, housing starts - tonight
S&P 500: up 5 points or 0.12%
Dow: down 46 points or 0.13%
Nasdaq: up 10 points or 0.07%
Dollar: down 0.71% to 64.65 US cents
Iron ore (Dalian): down 1.5% to US$131.77
Brent crude: down US$3.76 or 4.63% to US$77.42
Gold: up US$23 or 1.17% to US$1,987.30
NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: up 1.63%
Bitcoin: down 4.42% to US$35,946
Copper (LME): down 0.3% to US$8,241
Nickel (LME): down 2.06% to US$17,125
Uranium: up 2.77% to US$77
Lithium carbonate (China spot): down 0.67% to US$20,565
