daytrades march 17 pre-market

Morning traders.

Market wrap: Key U.S. stock indexes hit fresh 17-month highs overnight as a falling U.S. dollar sparked a rally in commodity prices.

Futures traders expect our market to open 35 points stronger this morning after solid gains for oil and metals as good news for Greece drove the euro up against the greenback. The March SPI futures contract closed at 4840.

Financial shares spurred a rally on Wall Street as the Federal Reserve again confirmed that it will keep the U.S.'s key interest rate low for some time to come. The S&P 500 climbed 0.78% to a new 17-month high and the Nasdaq added 0.67%. The blue chips on the Dow rose for a sixth day but continued to lag the overall market, climbing 0.41% but still trading below their January high for the year.

The S&P Bank Index climbed 1.5% after the Fed left interest rates unchanged and issued a monetary policy statement that showed little change in its cautious outlook. "No surprise was the hallmark of the statement," a managing executive of U.S. investments told MarketWatch.

The dollar index, which measures the U.S. dollar against six other currencies, slumped 0.63% to its lowest level since early February after ratings agency Standards & Poors affirmed Greece's credit rating and removed the debt-laden nation from CreditWatch. The euro had been under a cloud since S&P threatened to downgrade Greece last month.

Housing starts slumped 5.9% last month, but analysts attributed the slowdown to severe storms that lashed parts of the U.S. "The underlying pace of home construction remains fairly steady," an economist for RBS Securities told MarketWatch.

There were gains for most sectors in the U.S., with standouts including precious metals miners +2.7%, REITs +2.4%, banks +1.5%, oilers +1.2% and transport stocks +1.2%.

Traders hedged against a falling greenback by buying precious metals. The spot gold price spiked $19.60 or 1.9% to trade recently at $1,128.40 an ounce. Silver and platinum also gained ground.

Industrial metals locked in gains in London, with copper enjoying its biggest rise in two weeks. Copper rose 1.5%, aluminium 1%, lead 0.5% and nickel 1.4%, while tin was flat and zinc dropped 1.3%.

Crude oil futures bounced back from yesterday's weakness, climbing 2.5% to $81.80 a barrel ahead of tonight's weekly U.S. inventories report.

European markets were cheered by S&P's stance on Greece. Britain's FTSE rallied 0.5%, Germany's DAX 1.1% and France's CAC 1.2%.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

COMMODITIES: The U.S. dollar index has rallied strongly since November but has faded over the last few weeks and now looks like rolling over. That's good news for commodity prices because a weaker dollar makes dollar-priced commodities more appealing to foreign buyers, including China. Gold was last night's big winner and is bouncing hard after testing the old support level. Oil is pushing back towards the old resistance level and faces another test tonight with U.S. crude inventory data.

ECONOMIC NEWS: There's a bit happening locally today. The Melbourne Institute's leading index of economic indicators is due at 10.30 am, followed by quarterly housing starts at 11.30 am and RBA Assistant Governor Guy Debelle is part of a panel discussion starting at noon. Tonight in the U.S.: monthly producer price index, crude oil inventories and Fed chairman Bernanke testifies before the House Financial Services Committee.

Good luck to all.