Outlook for the day: Negative following adverse moves on several commodity markets and a sideways session on Wall Street.
ASX futures: down 21 points or 0.29%
Overnight themes:
US stocks mark time ahead of this week's interest rate decision. The main indices give up most of their afternoon gains by the bell.
The Federal Reserve is due to gather tonight for a two-day policy meeting that ends with the announcement of the target federal funds rate on Wednesday night Australian time. With no change expected, the main interest lies in the central bank's quarterly rates forecast.
“There are some question marks: everyone knows that they’re going to stay put for this meeting, but then what is their messaging going to be going forward? It’s a wait-and-see moment to see what kind of forward guidance we’re getting from the Fed” - Stephanie Lang, CIO at Homrich Berg.
Optimistic forecasts for iPhone demand help lift Apple 1.69%.
Ford and other car-makers decline as a strike continues.
Energy shares gain 0.68% as oil hits a fresh high for the year. Tech, financials and industrials also advance. The biggest drags are the consumer discretionary sector, real estate and materials.
Iron ore and most base metals retreat as China's troubled real estate market battles fresh headwinds. Investors await news on whether major developer Country Garden dodged another debt default yesterday after two last-minute payments this month. Shares in rival Evergrande lose a quarter of their value after police raid the developer's wealth management unit.
Gold logs its strongest close in two weeks as the US dollar backs off recent six-month highs.
Key events today:
Minutes from this month's RBA monetary policy meeting - 11.30am AEST
US building permits, housing starts - tonight
S&P 500: up 3 points or 0.07%
Dow: up 6 points or 0.02%
Nasdaq: up 2 points or 0.01%
Dollar: steady at 64.39 US cents
Iron ore (Dalian): down 0.2% to US$119.53
Brent crude: up 50 US cents or 0.5% to US$94.43
Gold: up US$7.20 or 0.4% to US$1,953.40
NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: up 0.51%
Copper (LME): down 0.64% to US$8,352
Nickel (LME): down 0.15% to US$19,890
Lithium carbonate (China spot): down 1.35% to US$25,510
