daytrades march 16 pre-market

Morning traders.

Market wrap: Australian stocks look set for a mildly negative start after a soft night for commodity prices and a mixed session on Wall Street.

Futures traders expect our market to open 5 points lower. The March SPI futures contract closed at 4786.

Wall Street was underwater for most of the night but rallied in the final hour and a half of trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished stronger for a fifth day, up 18 points or 0.17%. The S&P 500 was flat at +0.05% and the Nasdaq closed 0.26% lower as hopes fade that Google will remain in China.

The mood on Wall Street in early trade was undermined by ratings agency Moody's warning that risks are growing for the four largest triple-A-rated countries: the U.S., U.K., Germany and France. The warning followed Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's weekend statement that a double-dip global recession remains possible.

Moody's said the global economic recovery remains "fragile" in several advanced economies and warned that moves to rein in aggressive expansionary monetary policies will expose the world's biggest economies to "execution risk".

Overnight economic reports in the U.S. delivered mixed messages. A manufacturing survey came in below expectations but noted a rise in new orders and improvement in job markets. Manufacturing output dropped in February because of severe weather.

Shares in Google slipped 3% after reports that the company will abandon its Chinese-language operation after failing to strike an agreement with Chinese authorities. The Wall Street Journal said talks on filtering search results appeared deadlocked.

U.S. resource stocks were mostly lower as a resurgent U.S. dollar pressured commodity prices. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major currencies, rallied 0.5% as Moody's warning sparked a flight to the "safety" of the U.S. dollar.

Oil stock indexes dipped around 1% as concerns about sovereign debt ratings for the developed world weighed on the price of oil. Crude oil futures slipped 1.7% to %79.86 a barrel.

Gold benefitted from its "safe-haven" status in times of worry. The spot price was recently $5.40 higher at $1,106.90 an ounce.

Industrial metals were crunched by the rising dollar and on-going concerns that Chinese demand has not been as strong since the lunar New Year holidays as expected. Copper hit a two-week low in London, down 2.1%. In London, aluminium slid 1.8%, lead 3.1%, nickel 1.2%, tin 0.8% and zinc 2.6%.

There were broad falls on European markets, with resource sectors notably weak. Britain's FTSE dipped 0.57%, Germany's DAX 0.7% and France's CAC 0.93%.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

U.S. RALLY INTACT: The bearish mood on Asian markets yesterday carried into Europe but Wall Street currently appears determined to rally whatever the obstacles. There were plenty of reasons for U.S. indexes to fall last night - sovereign debt fears, soft commodity prices, Google's troubles in China, mixed economic numbers - but traders are still buying any dips. Bears should take note. Our market will have to overcome a weak resources sector today but our financials may follow Wall Street's lead. The S&P Bank Index closed 0.5% higher.

ECONOMIC NEWS: The minutes from the last RBA monetary policy meeting are released at 11.30 am. Interest rates are also the main event in the U.S. tonight. The Federal Reserve is not expected to raise the benchmark rate but the monetary policy statement will be scoured for clues to the timetable for the first rise. Also in the U.S. tonight: building permits, housing starts and import prices.

Good luck to all.