daytrade diaries... june 15

Morning traders.

Market wrap: Australian stocks face a limp start to the week after meagre gains on Wall Street on Friday and falls in commodity prices.

US stock indexes squeezed out a fourth consecutive week of gains but Friday's action was another day of low volume and skinny rises. The Dow added 0.32% and the S&P just 0.14% . The Nasdaq lost 0.19%. A computer error affected trading on the NYSE and contributed to the lowest volume traded in a session so far this year.

REITs were strong, adding 3.2%. Gold miners and oilers lost ground following a slump in commodity prices as the US dollar benefitted from a record plunge in European industrial production.

Gold futures hit their lowest level in three weeks, down 2.2% at $938.30. Oil fell for the first session in four after OPEC said it had increased May production. Crude slipped 64 cents or less than 1% to $72.25. Base metals also retreated, with copper and aluminium both off more than 2.5%.

Futures traders expect our market to open near flat. The SPI lost 2 points at 4058. However, it wouldn't surprise to see a pullback today after last week's strong three-day run. The mining-heavy Canadian market, which moves a lot like the ASX and was making similar gains last week, lost 0.65% on Friday because of retreating commodity prices.

The three-month US bull run looks suspiciously like it's running out of steam - sideways action on diminishing volume. Not a good time to take a long-term positions but there are always opportunities for the nimble day trader.

Good luck to all.