daytrade diaries... june 4

Morning traders.

Market wrap: Wall Street retreated overnight for the first time in five sessions as commodity prices slid and the Federal Reserve Chairman warned that economic recovery will be slow.

A final-hour rally pared losses but the major indexes still finished down 0.6% (Nasdaq) - 1.4% (S&P). Miners slumped as oil, gold and base metals unwound some of the recent stellar gains.

The gold/silver miner index dropped 5.4% as gold dropped nearly 2% to $963.20. The slide came as the US dollar rose against the euro for the first session in five after weak European economic data. Oilers fell more than 4% after crude fell 3.5% to $66.21 after an unexpected rise in US inventories. The rising dollar also weighed on base metals, with significant pullbacks overnight. Copper fell 3.7% in US trading, its biggest fall in six weeks, amid speculation that the five-month rally is overdone.

Futures traders expect a significant pullback on the local market. The SPI shed 51 points to 3972.

There's plenty of room for profit-taking today after one of the strongest four-day runs on the ASX that I can recall. The miners are going to be smacked around, which may create bounce-trade opportunities for the nimble, but it's probably a day to be cautious.

Good luck to all.