Day trading pre-market open September 2

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


Outlook for the day: Negative, with commodity price weakness and start-of-month institutional position unwinding expected to outweigh a positive session on Wall Street on Friday.

ASX futures: down 18 points or 0.22%


Friday themes:

• The Dow closed at a record during a positive end to the week and month for US stocks as economic data kept alive hopes for a "soft landing" for the economy, as well as rate cuts.
• The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, the personal consumption expenditures price index, increased by 0.2% in July and 2.5% year-on-year. Both numbers were in line with expectations. Core annual inflation eased to 2.6%, slightly below expectations.
• Also cheering investors was news the consumer spending increased by 0.5% in July, implying solid economic growth.
• "Investors are seeing another sign of being in a soft landing. It's another one of those Goldilocks kind of reports really threading a needle right down the center. The market is really getting exactly what it wanted" - Cameron Dawson, chief investment officer at Newedge Wealth (per Reuters).
• The Dow overcame a mid-session wobble to advance 0.55% to a second straight record close. The S&P 500 put on 1.01% and the Nasdaq added 1.13%. All three indices closed at session highs as the curtain fell on a volatile month.
• All 11 S&P sectors advanced on Friday. Gains ranged from 0.27% for energy stocks up to 1.92% for consumer discretionary. The industrial, tech and materials sectors all finished at least 1% higher.
• Friday's action completed a remarkable comeback for the major indices from heavy losses in the first week of August. The S&P 500 finished the month 2.3% higher after being down as much as 7.3%. The Dow swung from a first-week loss of 5.4% to a final gain of almost 1.8%. The Nasdaq flipped a 10.7% decline into a gain of 0.7%.
• Iron ore trimmed a second straight positive week. Benchmark ore reversed 0.53% in China on Friday to US$106.33 a metric ton. The Singapore benchmark shed 1.03%, but held above the psychologically-significant US$100 a level at US$101.15.
• Oil sealed a losing week and a second straight losing month with a step lower on Friday as global demand worries continued to set the market direction. Brent crude declined US$1.14 or 1.4% to US$78.80 a barrel. That left the benchmark contract 0.3% lower for the week and 2.4% lower for the month.
• “We continue to have questions about global demands... We think global demands will weaken later in the year as air travel appears to be ticking lower and Asian transportation demands for diesel are also showing lower numbers” - Gary Cunningham, director of market research at Tradition Energy (per MarketWatch)
• Gold stepped back from Thursday's record close as rallies in the greenback and US treasury yields attracted buyers towards alternative stores of wealth to precious metals. Gold futures declined US$32.70 or 1.28% to US$2,527.60 an ounce. For the month, the yellow metal gained around 2%.

Key events this week:

• Job ads - 11.30 am AEST
• Building approvals - 11.30 am
• Company operating profits - 11.30 am
• China manufacturing - 11.45 am
• US market holiday (Labor Day) - tonight
• US manufacturing - Tuesday
• Q4 GDP - Wednesday
• US job openings - Wednesday
• Trade balance - Thursday
• Speech and Q&A with RBA Governor Michele Bullock - Thursday
• US private payrolls - Thursday
• US services PMI - Thursday
• US employment report - Friday

S&P 500: up 56 points or 1.01%

Dow: up 228 points or 0.55%

Nasdaq: up 197 points or 1.13%

Dollar: up 0.03% to 67.65 US cents

Iron ore (Dalian): down 0.53% to US$106.33

Brent crude: down US$1.14 or 1.4% to US$78.80

Gold (futures): down US$32.70 or 1.28% to US$2,527.60

Gold (spot): down US$16.43 or 0.65% to US$2,503.12

Silver: down 52 US cents or 1.76% to US$28.86

NYSE Arca Gold Bugs: down 0.68%

Bitcoin: down 1.24% to US$58,231

Copper (LME): down 0.1% to US$9,235

Nickel (LME): down 1.39% to US$16,766

Lithium carbonate (China): up 0.47% to 74,600 yuan

Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF: up 1.36%

Uranium (spot): down 0.32% to US$79.50

BHP: steady (US); down 0.04% (UK)

Rio Tinto: down 0.08% (US); down 0.52% (UK)