Morning traders. Thanks @ttward and lounge lizards. Overnight...

Morning traders. Thanks @ttward and lounge lizards.

Overnight round-up and day ahead:

The ASX looks on track for a fifth straight winning week despite a flat close on Wall Street as China dampened expectations for trade talks.

ASX SPI200 index futures rallied 10 points or 0.2 per cent to 6721, positioning the benchmark index to extend yesterday's seven-week closing high. The ASX 200 yesterday put on 36 points or 0.5 per cent, the index's best performance in two weeks.

US stocks flirted with record territory overnight before fading after the editor of a Chinese Communist Party-controlled newspaper warned his country was in no hurry to end the damaging trade war. As US and Chinese negotiators met in Washington to lay the groundwork for talks next month, Hu Xijin tweeted "China doesn't like talking tough before the negotiations, but I know China is not as anxious to reach a deal as the US side thought".

The S&P 500 got within four points of its July all-time high of 3026 before ending flat at 3007. The Dow gave up 52 points or 0.19 per cent as a 1.9 per cent buyback-inspired rally in Microsoft was outweighed by a 0.8 per cent slide in Apple. The Nasdaq held onto a gain of five points or 0.07 per cent.

Expectations for next month's trade talks had risen this month as both nations made concessions. Tensions flared overnight after White House adviser Michael Pillsbury said the President had been "remarkably restrained" so far, but tariffs could go to 100 per cent if a trade deal was not struck soon. China responded through Hu Xijin, who said: "Both China and the US should cherish the current talks. Many US officials easily misread China's goodwill, think it shows Beijing's weakness."

Other factors last night included a batch of economic data that performed better than expected, dampening the outlook for rate cuts. Sales of existing homes increased 1.3 per cent last month, the strongest pace since March. And a regional manufacturing gauge came in well above forecast.

A fifth straight decline in iron ore weighed on Australian iron ore giants BHP and Rio Tinto. BHP's US-listed stock edged up 0.31 per cent, but its UK-listed stock shed 0.17 per cent. Rio Tinto gave up 0.26 per cent in the US and 0.33 per cent in the UK. Spot ore landed in China has been drifting lower all week and yesterday slumped $4.10 or 4.3 per cent to $US92 a ton.

Gold suffered a smackdown from a rampant greenback, but finished well above the lows it saw during Australian trade yesterday. Metal for December delivery traded below $US1,500 an ounce before settling $9.60 or 0.6 per cent in the red at $US1,506.20 an ounce.

Oil rebounded from two days of profit-taking following Monday's 15 per cent surge after a drone attack in Saudi Arabia knocked out five per cent of global production. Brent crude settled 80 cents or 1.3 per cent ahead at $US64.40 a barrel.

Copper declined with the dimming outlook for trade talks. London copper was bid down 0.5 per cent in final official rings. Aluminium added 0.2 per cent and lead 1 per cent. Nickel lost 0.5 percent, tin 1 per cent and zinc 0.9 per cent.

The dollar dropped roughly a cent in two legs yesterday and was this morning wallowing near a two-week low at 67.92 US cents. The local unit was crunched by a rally in the greenback after the Federal Reserve flagged a possible pause in rate cuts, then soft domestic employment data.

Nothing on the domestic economic calendar today. Tonight brings so-called "quadruple witching" in the US when four types of futures and options expire during the same session. The event is often associated with elevated volatility.

Breakfast

Today is National Heaps-of-Things-I-Won't-Eat-For-Breakfast Day. These include: string cheese (no!), punch (too early), fried rice (not before lunch) and pepperoni pizza (only with a hangover). It has been a long week, so let's enjoy a lazy breakfast tray instead.