daytrades april 29 pre-market

Morning traders.

Market wrap: Australian stocks are likely to open modestly higher this morning after a rebound on Wall Street and strength in key commodity prices.

With 15 minutes left to trade, the June SPI futures contract was up 5 points at 4831 despite further overnight losses in Europe as Standard and Poor's cut Spain's credit rating - the third European country to suffer a downgrade in two days.

Wall Street's focus returned to domestic issues, including upbeat earnings results and the Federal Reserve?s renewed pledge to keep interest rates at record lows. A choppy session finished with gains for all of the major indexes - the S&P 500 up 0.65%, the Dow +0.48% and the Nasdaq +0.01%.

Nerves were soothed in late afternoon when the Fed ended its monetary policy meeting by repeating that economic conditions warrant leaving interest rates where they are for "an extended period". The promise of cheap money helped the S&P Bank Index recover 1.5% of Tuesday's heavy losses.

However, market commentators warned that the Fed may soon lay the foundations for a rise in interest rates. "My sense is the Fed had its hands tied today because of the Greek crisis," a senior U.S. financial professional told MarketWatch. "The wording, in our opinion, will change in the next two to three meetings."

The U.S. dollar hit a one-year high against the euro after S&P cut Spain's rating by one grade to AA. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was recently up 0.2%.

"The real concern is not Greece itself but the potential domino effect," a U.S. observer told MarketWatch. "The market hates uncertainty."

The major European markets extended their losses overnight after a turbulent session. Britain's FTSE dropped 0.3%, Germany's DAX 1.22% and France's CAC 1.5%.

Gold broke to a four-month high but pared gains in the last few hours. The spot price was recently at $1,165.60 an ounce, down $2.80 or 0.3% from Tuesday's closing price in New York.

Oil rallied despite a rising dollar and a higher-than-expected jump in U.S. stockpiles. Crude futures were recently up 98 cents or 1.2% at $83.42 a barrel.

Industrial metals remained under pressure but copper scraped into positive territory in U.S. trade. In late trade in London, copper was down 0.9%, lead -2.5%, nickel -0.8%, tin -3.2% and zinc -1.1%. Aluminium rallied 1.9% as traders said recent losses were overdone.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

UNCERTAINTY: Wall Street eventually scraped together enough reasons to rebound overnight but the action was choppy and lacked conviction. Our market has a mixed bag of leads to digest this morning and a strong move in either direction seems unlikely. Not a day to make big bets IMO.

ANOTHER SHOE DROPS: European debt contagion is spreading, with Spain the third country to be downgraded by a ratings agency in two days. Economists warn that the crisis could spiral unless authorities shore up Greece's position quickly. There was talk overnight that the European Union and IMF may significantly increase the size of a Greek rescue plan but it may be too little, too late because the problems obviously do not end with Greece. It looks like a bumpy ride ahead for global markets.

ECONOMIC NEWS: The Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators is due at 10.00 am. Unemployment claims are the main event in the U.S. tonight. Also due: natural gas storage and testimony from Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on the Federal budget.

Good luck to all.