Day trading pre-market open October 25

Morning traders. Thanks loungers, especially @Ravgnome and @Patterns.


Outlook for the day: Positive ahead of inflation data this morning that could tilt the needle towards - or away from - another rate hike.

ASX futures: up 24 points or 0.35%


Overnight themes:

• US stocks rebound as earnings exceed estimates and treasury yields ease further from last week's highs.
• Rate-sensitive megacaps gain as the 10-year treasury yield declines more than two basis points to 4.826%. Stocks slumped last week when the closely-watched benchmark pushed briefly above 5% for the first time since 2007.
• Coca-Cola, 3M, Verizon and General Electric rally on well-received trading updates.
• Microsoft and Alphabet (Google) advance ahead of earnings reports following this morning's closing bell. Almost a third of S&P 500 companies report this week.
• "We’re in the midst of earnings season and there’s a lot of focus on the large cap tech names on tap... We had a pullback on 10-year Treasury yields yesterday and there hasn't been a bounce-back today, and that’s added to the optimism" - Bill Merz, head of Capital Market Research at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.
• Utilities and communication services are the pick of the sectors, gaining 2.57% and 1.38% , respectively. Real estate, materials and consumer discretionary all gain at least 1%. Energy is the only laggard, falling 1.42%.
• Iron ore and industrial metals rally following reports of fresh Chinese government stimulus measures. Parliament will sign off on the issuance of US$137 billion in sovereign bonds to spur spending, according to Reuters.
• Oil falls for a third session as Europe's economy loses momentum and some of the "war premium" exits the market.
• RBA Governor Michele Bullock warns that the central bank will raise the cash rate if the outlook for inflation deteriorates. The warning precedes first-quarter consumer inflation figures this morning.
• "The Board will not hesitate to raise the cash rate further if there is a material upward revision to the outlook for inflation," Bullock tells a Sydney conference last night.

Key events today:

• Inflation data - 11.30 am AEDT (expected: CPI Q1 +1.1%; CPI y-o-y +5.3%; Q1 trimmed mean +1%)

S&P 500: up 31 points or 0.73%

Dow: up 205 points or 0.62%

Nasdaq: up 122 points or 0.93%

Dollar: up 0.34% to 63.57 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): up 3.8% to US$118.34

Brent crude: down US$1.76 or 2% to US$88.07

Gold: down US$1.70 or 0.09% to US$1,986.10

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: down 0.17%

Copper (LME): up 1.32% to US$8,077

Nickel (LME): up 0.92% to US$18,345

Lithium carbonate (China spot): down 0.58% to US$23,682

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: up 2.47%

BHP: up 2.48% (US); up 2.18% (UK)

Rio Tinto: up 3.4% (US); up 3.47% (UK)