Outlook for the day: Mildly negative as gains in key commodities help offset weakness on Wall Street.
ASX futures: down six points or 0.08%
Overnight themes:
US stocks retreat as retailers warn of weak consumer spending and the Federal Reserve shows no appetite for rate cuts any time soon. The major indices drop between 0.18% and 0.59%.
The S&P 500 retail sub-index sheds 1.9% following downbeat trading updates from Lowe's, Best Buy, American Eagle and Kohl's. Lowe's loses 3.11% after downgrading its profit outlook. Best Buy warns annual sales will be lower than previous guidance. Kohl's misses its sales target for the third quarter.
Reports of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos selling more shares sends the e-commerce giant's stock price down 1.53%.
Stocks retain their losses following the release of the minutes from the latest Fed policy meeting. The minutes show participants believe it is "critical" that rates remain "restrictive" until inflation is convincingly on track back to the central bank's 2% target. While financial markets have started to price in rate cuts as soon as May, there is nothing in the notes to suggest rate cuts were discussed at the meeting. US treasury yields trim their losses but remain lower following the release.
Chip-maker Nvidia (one of the so-called Magnificent Seven) dips 0.92% ahead of a trading update following the end of regular trade this morning.
The impact of rate hikes is underlined by the weakest housing sales since 2010. Existing home sales fall to 3.79 million in October, missing expectations for sales of 3.9 million.
A mixed market sees healthcare, materials and consumer staples perform best with gains of between 0.35% and 0.61%. Tech, real estate and consumer discretionary stocks fare worst.
Iron ore climbs to a 12-month high in China following reports of fresh Chinese support for property developers. Bloomberg says regulators are drafting a list of developers eligible for a range of funding. Chinese real estate stocks pop almost 2.5%. The most-traded January ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange ends daytime trade at US$135.69, the strongest close since November 15 last year. Singapore ore touches an eight-month high at US$132.85.
Uranium hits US$80 a pound for the first time in more than 15 years. Futures contracts for yellowcake trade as high as US$80.25, according to Bloomberg.
Gold settles above US$2,000 an ounce for the first time since late October.
Key events today:
Speech by RBA Governor Bullock about monetary policy and the economic outlook at a business economist dinner - tonight
US consumer sentiment, durable goods, unemployment claims - tonight
S&P 500: down 9 points or 0.2%
Dow: down 63 points or 0.18%
Nasdaq: down 85 points or 0.59%
Dollar: down 0.06% to 65.56 US cents
Iron ore (Dalian): up 1.93% to US$135.69
Brent crude: up 13 US cents or 0.16% to US$82.45
Gold: up US$21.30 or 1.07% to US$2,001.60
NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: up 2.59%
Bitcoin: down 1.29% to US$36,973
Copper (LME): up 0.47% to US$8,470
Nickel (LME): up 0.27% to US$16,950
Uranium: up 2.6% to US$80
Lithium carbonate (China spot): down 1.42% to US$20,166
