Day trading pre-market open September 13

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


Outlook for the day: Positive after the promise of a US interest rate cut next week helped lift US stocks and key commodities.

ASX futures: up 45 points or 0.56%


Overnight themes:

• US stocks pushed higher as warmer-than-expected wholesale inflation data underscored strength in the economy without undermining expectations that the Federal Reserve will lower official rates next week for the first time in four years.
• The S&P 500 sealed a fourth straight gain with a rise of 0.75%. The broadest of the major benchmarks closed roughly 1.3% below its previous record.
• The Nasdaq put on 1% as AI-related stocks continued to recover some of their recent losses. Broadcom gained 3.97%, Nvidia 1.92% and AMD 0.61%. Meta and Alphabet both lifted more than 2.2%.
• The Dow firmed 0.58% with more than two-thirds of its component companies advancing.
• Solid economic data soothed any lingering doubts that the economy remains on a sound footing ahead of the expected start of rate cuts next week. The producer price index increased by 0.2% last month, ahead of estimates. However, the longer-term trend remained positive after July price growth was revised down to zero from a previously-reported gain of 0.1%. Year-on-year price growth declined to 1.7% from 2.1% in July.
• A separate report showed first-time claims for unemployment benefits crept up by 2,000 last week to 230,000, indicating redundancies remained well-contained as the labour market tightened.
• "This week's data pretty much confirms that we're not likely to have a hard landing and that we're in a soft landing. As long as investors see that interest rate cut and a path forward for interest rate cuts they're excited about prospects in the stock market and especially the growthier sections" - Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel(per Reuters).
• All 11 S&P sectors advanced, led by communication services +2.01% and consumer discretionary +1.15%. Also strong were energy +0.94%, materials +0.91% and tech +0.82%. Real estate and financials brought up the rear with gains of around 0.1%.
• Gold miners soared as metal prices hit a new high. Gold for December delivery settled US$32.80 or 1.5% ahead at US$2,580.60 an ounce after trading as high as US$2,583.60. Both the settlement and intraday prices were records for the yellow metal. Spot silver surged more than 4% on Comex. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs index of US miners jumped 5.81%. ASX-listed Newmont gained 4.22%.
• Iron ore rallied firmly in China as buyers anticipated a seasonal pick-up in demand. Benchmark ore rallied 3.97% on the Dalian Commodity Exchange to US$99.25 a metric ton, the highest in more than a week.
• Oil climbed to its highest in a week as a hurricane forced refineries to pause work in Louisiana. Hurricane Francine made landfall late on Wednesday and was downgraded to a tropical storm overnight. Brent crude firmed US$1.36 or 1.9% to US$71.97 a barrel.

Key events today:

• US preliminary consumer sentiment - tonight

S&P 500: up 42 points or 0.75%

Dow: up 235 points or 0.58%

Nasdaq: up 174 points or 1%

Dollar: up 0.74% to 67.24 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): up 3.97% to US$99.25

Brent crude: up US$1.36 or 1.9% to US$71.97

Gold (futures): up US$32.80 or 1.5% to US$2,580.60

Gold (spot): up US$46.24 or 1.84% to US$2,558.10

Silver (spot): up US$1.20 or 4.2% to US$29.88

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: up 5.81%

Bitcoin: up 1.12% to US$58,042

Copper (LME): up 1.29% to US$9,207.50

Nickel (LME): down 0.34% to US$16,075

Lithium carbonate (China): up 0.54% to 73,800 yuan

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: down 0.08%

Uranium (spot): steady at US$80.50

BHP: up 1.65% (US); up 2.56% (UK)

Rio Tinto: up 1.14% (US); up 1.94% (UK)