Daytrading April 15 pre-market

Morning traders. Thanks Trees and after-market regulars.

Market wrap:

Slender gains on Wall Street and a sharp rebound in Australia's largest miners point to a cautiously positive start to trade this morning.

The June SPI 200 futures contract edged up 11 points or 0.2% to 5949 as BHP and Rio Tinto snapped back from 11-week lows in the US after iron ore climbed back above US$50 a tonne.

Wall Street overcame soft economic data and a mixed bag of quarterly corporate earnings to creep higher as gains in energy stocks offset declines in technology. The S&P 500 put on three points or 0.16% as investors applauded the Q1 profit report from JPMorgan Chase, yawned at Johnson & Johnson and thumbed down the first profit decline at Wells Fargo in six years. The Dow gained 60 points or 0.33%, while tech weakness dragged the Nasdaq down 11 points or 0.22%.

"We're getting a bit of a bifurcated market here," Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities in the US, told CNBC. "More good news than bad news in this very early start to earnings season."

Intel, which reported after the close of regular trade this morning, was lately up 2.1% in after-market action. The other key moves were: JPMorgan Chase +1.56%, Johnson & Johnson -0.03% and Wells Fargo -0.73%.

The night's economic reports continued a recent run of mild disappointments that has some analysts questioning whether the economy has enough momentum for the Federal Reserve to raise its key rate this year. Retail sales improved last month for the first time since November but by less than economist expected. Sales increased by a seasonally-adjusted 0.9%, versus the 1.1% consensus of economists polled by MarketWatch.

Producer prices also rebounded from a run of declines by less than predicted. The Producer Price Index rose a seasonally-adjusted 0.2% in March, less than the 0.3% rally that economists anticipated. Separately, a measure of sentiment among small business fell to its lowest level in nine months during March.

The energy sector did the heavy lifting, rising 1.8% as crude oil moved back above US$53 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for delivery in May rose $1.38 or 2.7% to settle at US$53.29 after Iran proposed OPEC production cuts to offset an increase in supplies if sanctions are lifted on Iranian exports.

Bargain-hunting at 11-week lows saw BHP and Rio Tinto recoup much of the week's losses. BHP bounced 3.92% and Rio Tinto 4.54% in US trade. Spot iron ore for import to China yesterday jumped $1.30 to US$50.10 a dry tonne, ore's third gain in four sessions.

Gold stocks rallied 1.29% even as a decline in the US dollar failed to prevent the precious metal's lowest close of the month. Gold for June delivery settled $6.70 or 0.6% lower at US$1,192.60 an ounce.

A mixed session on the London Metal Exchange saw copper near a four-week low and nickel the cheapest in six years before recovering. In London, copper lost 0.7%, lead 0.6% and zinc 0.6%. Aluminium rallied 1.4%, nickel 1.2% and tin 1.1%. US copper for May delivery was recently down 0.5% at US$2.71 a pound.

European stocks declined for the first time in five sessions as gains in miners were offset by a revival of Greece's debt crisis. The Financial Times reported that Greece is preparing to default on some debt repayments if negotiations with its creditors break down. The Stoxx Europe 600 shed 0.47% as Germany's DAX gave up 0.9%, France's CAC dropped 0.69% and Britain's FTSE added 0.16%.

The dollar was this morning buying 76.27 US cents.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

BIFURCATION WEDNESDAY: Pay attention, class - the word for today is "bifurcated". I expect 200 words from each of you on its meaning and nuance. Have your essays on my desk by this afternoon's bell. It's a tricky word - CNBC couldn't spell it last time I looked - and I admit I had to use Google to find out what it meant (basically, divided in two). Why is it relevant? Well the big miners have been holding us back all week but look to be a strong positive for the day ahead. However, our futures suggest limited enthusiasm for a rally, so there will have to be weakness elsewhere by way of rotation to balance those gains. In other words, a divided market. Enthusiasm for the big miners may wax or wane at noon EST with the release of a slew of Chinese data, including growth and industrial production figures. Those will have a big say on how our market closes. Back in the USA, last night's earnings were predictably mixed but set off no alarm bells. The positive after-market reaction to Intel may give equity futures a boost and provide the ASX with some impetus this afternoon.  

ECONOMIC NEWS: Consumer sentiment figures are due at 10.30am EST, but the session's main lead will come at noon with the release of quarterly Chinese GDP data and monthly updates on industrial production, retail sales and asset investment. Industrial production is also a highlight of another busy night ahead in the US. Also on tap: the Federal Reserve's "Beige Book", crude oil inventories, housing market index, Empire State Manufacturing Index, long-term purchases, capacity utilisation rate and a leading index.

Good luck to all.