Day trading pre-market open September 18

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


Outlook for the day: Soft for a second day following a mixed close on Wall Street after the Federal Reserve lowered official rates.

ASX futures: down 15 points or 0.17%


Overnight themes: ​

• Wall Street's main stock benchmarks finished mixed in volatile trade after the Federal Reserve delivered a widely-expected rate cut but pushed back against expectations that more cuts are a certainty. ​
• The S&P 500 closed 0.1% lower after swinging sharply in both directions as Fed Chair Jerome Powell fielded questions after the central bank lowered benchmark rates by 25 basis points. The Nasdaq Composite shed 0.33%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an all-time high before closing 260 points or 0.57% ahead. ​
• The Fed voted 11-1 to cut the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to a range of 4% - 4.25%. The dissenter was newly-appointed Fed Governor Stephen Miran, a Trump ally who wanted a 50 bp cut. ​
• The central bank issued guidance indicating it expected to make two more 25 bp cuts this year, but only one next year. In his press conference Fed Chair Powell resisted the idea that future cuts are certain. Powell said the bank was in an "unusual" situation because it faced a slowing jobs market and rising prices. He described this morning's cut as "risk management". “We’ve seen much more challenging economic times from a policy standpoint, the standpoint of what we’re trying to accomplish, it’s challenging to know what to do,” Powell said. “There are no risk-free paths now.”​
• “Powell tempered some of the initial enthusiasm in the markets for a more aggressive path of monetary easing. He noted the softness in the labor market, but reserves a larger cut for more serious conditions that are not present today," Michael Rosen, chief investment officer at Angeles Investments, told Reuters. "The Fed also raised its inflation forecast, highlighting the delicate balance between setting monetary policy to offset a weaker labor market versus bringing inflation lower."​
• Financials outperformed. The S&P financial sector put on 0.96% as gains in companies such as AmEx, Visa and Goldman Sachs helped the Dow beat the other two benchmarks. Other sectors to advance included consumer staples +0.9% and materials +0.36%. ​
• Big Tech was the night's biggest drag. Nvidia, Oracle, Broadcom and Amazon all declined as the tech sector dropped 0.7%. ​
• Gold fell from record levels after Fed Chair Powell warned future rate cuts were by no means certain. Powell said the central bank was in a "meeting-by-meeting situation" regarding additional cuts. Spot gold was lately down US$32.29 or 0.87% to US$3,659.50 an ounce after earlier touching a new high of US$3,707.40. US gold futures settled US$7.30 or 0.2% lower at US$3,717.80 before the Fed announcement. In recent action, gold futures were down US$32 or 0.86% at US$3,693.10. ​
• "The Fed is signalling uncertainty with Powell calling this a 'risk-management' cut which has triggered some quite understandable profit-taking [in gold]," Tai Wong, an independent metals trader, told Reuters. "A retracement or at least a consolidation is healthy; I don't expect an unusually deep pullback. Unless we get below major technical support at $3,550, the short-term uptrend should remain intact."​
• Iron ore eased for the fourth time in five sessions in China after ore shipments rose, while steel demand appeared to fall this quarter. An increase in shipments from Brazil lifted global shipments this quarter, according to consultancy Mysteel. However, steel demand last month was set to be the lowest this year, according to broker Galaxy Futures. Benchmark ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange dipped 0.12% to US$113.17 a metric ton. ​
• Copper fell to a one-week low in London trade as most base metals weakened ahead of the Fed rates decision. Benchmark copper dropped 1.51% to US$9,974 a metric ton. Aluminum, zinc, lead and tin also fell. Nickel was steady. ​

Key events today: ​

• August employment report - 11.30 am AEST (expected: +21.1K jobs, jobless rate steady at 4.2%) ​
• US unemployment claims - tonight ​

S&P 500: down 6 points or 0.1%

Dow: up 260 points or 0.57%

Nasdaq: down 73 points or 0.33%

VIX: down 3.91% to 15.72

US 10-year treasury yield: up 4.4 points to 4.079%

Dollar: down 0.49% to 66.56 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): down 0.12% to US$113.17

Brent crude: down 52 US cents or 0.76% to US$67.95

Gold (futures): down US$7.30 or 0.2% to US$3,717.80

Gold (spot): down US$32.29 or 0.87% to US$3,659.50

Silver (spot): down 91 US cents or 2.14% to US$41.66

Palladium (spot): down US$32.50 or 2.73% to US$1,156

Antimony (China ore): up 0.11% to US$18,934

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: down 0.33%

Bitcoin: down 0.79% to US$115,833

Copper (LME): down 1.51% to US$9,974

Nickel (LME): steady at US$15,445

Lithium carbonate (China spot battery grade): up 0.53% to US$9,082

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: up 1.39%

Uranium (spot): steady at US$76.38

Global X Uranium ETF (URA): up 0.43%

BHP: down 1.74% (US); down 1.16% (UK)

Rio Tinto: down 0.71% (US); down 0.85% (UK) ​