daytrades march 25 pre-market

Morning traders.

Market wrap: Optimism ahead of next month's US earnings season fuelled further gains on Wall Street overnight and set up Australian shares for another leap forward at today's open.

The June SPI futures contract ended the night session 28 points or 0.59% higher at 4750, a 51-point premium to yesterday's XJO close, despite a mixed night for resources. Gold turned sharply lower after hitting a new record, oil drifted down and most industrial metals moderated Wednesday night's gains.

Technology shares led a second night of advances in the US after Micron Technology and Red Hat beat earnings expectations. The S&P 500 broke back through 1,300 to close 12 points or 0.93% stronger at 1,310. The Dow put on 85 points or 0.7% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.41%.

"[US] earnings are the support, and why the market is going up beyond all odds," Marc Pado, US market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald told MarketWatch. "You know two weeks from now there will be some really good news coming. Companies will beat expectations because they are the ones guiding those expectations."

Also helping sentiment in the US was a drop in weekly jobless claims last week to the lowest level in three years. The result was in line with expectations, but an unexpected fall in durable goods orders weighed on base metals demand.

The VIX, or volatility index, fell 6% as fears abated over the impact on US stocks from the Japanese earthquake and trouble in North Africa and the Middle East. The VIX is now down nearly 40% since March 16, its steepest decline in 28 months.

European markets shrugged off the resignation of Portugal's Prime Minister after the Portuguese parliament rejected an austerity plan designed to save the country from an EU bailout. Analysts said recent strength in Spanish and Italian government bonds suggest the market is betting Europe's sovereign debt problems will end with Portugal. Britain's FTSE rallied 1.47%, Germany's DAX 1.69% and France's CAC 1.41%.

Gold set a new record but fell away as risk appetite improved around the globe. Gold for April delivery was recently down $9.90 or 0.7% at US$1,428 an ounce after earlier touching $1,448.60. Silver for May delivery set a new 31-year high before retreating to trade 15 cents or 0.4% weaker at $37.05 an ounce.

Oil consolidated recent gains as fighting continued in Libya, more protesters died in Syria overnight and protests were announced in Yemen for tonight. Crude futures were recently down 54 cents or 0.5% at US$105.21 a barrel.

Weak US durable goods orders took some of the shine off Wednesday night's rapid rise in base metals. In London, copper eased 0.25%, aluminium 0.2%, lead 1.3% and zinc 0.3%. Nickel added 0.3% and tin 1.5%. US copper was recently off 0.14%.

"Durable goods orders definitely missed expectations by a wide, wide margin," the chief executive at IG Markets in the US told Dow Jones Newswires. "Copper is used in manufacturing of nearly everything and this is pretty negative for copper in the short term."

TRADING THEMES TODAY

REBOUND CONTINUES: Another night of at best mixed news and Wall Street rallied regardless. Volumes remained weak but the short-term trend is clear: upwards and onwards. When the local earnings season draws near, US investors are very good at putting on their blinkers and blocking out overseas events. That suggests this recovery has plenty more in it. Resource prices were mostly mildly negative but BHP, Rio Tinto and Alumina all advanced in US trade, so our mining sector should remain strong here today. That said, it wouldn't surprise to see a little profit-taking this afternoon at the end of a strong week.

ECONOMIC NEWS: A slow week for scheduled economic news ends as meekly as it began. Nothing scheduled locally. US news tonight includes final quarterly GDP figures, revised consumer sentiment and revised inflation expectations. A European Union economic summit continues tonight.

Good luck to all.