Market wrap: Commodity prices bounced higher overnight but futures traders expect the local stock market to open in the red after a flat night on Wall Street.
Oil, gold and base metals recovered some of this week's heavy losses on the back of a weakening US dollar. That was enough to lift the mining-heavy Canadian index to a gain of 0.6%, but US stocks finished mixed. The S&P 500 rose 0.23% but the Dow lost 0.19% and the Nasdaq 0.07%.
Sentiment in the US was boosted by robust demand for a $40 billion Treasury auction. Financials, oilers and gold/silver miners all advanced.
Crude oil futures bounced off their lowest level in three weeks on hopes that US reserves have fallen. August crude futures rose 2.6% to recently trade at $69.27. At $925.30, gold is more than $10 higher than yesterday's low of $913.20.
Copper recovered from a four-week low, adding 3.2% in US trade and 0.9% in London. Other gains in the UK were nickel +0.8%, aluminum 2%, lead 1%, zinc 1.1% and tin 1.4%.
Yesterday was a tough day here but futures traders seem to think our market factored in a better night overseas. The SPI closed 20 points lower at 3747. I'm not so bearish. We didn't get a bounce in the US but rising commodity prices might be enough to drag us into positive territory today. Could be time to take a look at beaten-up mining stocks. RIO finally managed a positive night in overseas trade after an upgrade from ING, but BHP continued to slide.
