daytrading christmas eve daytime

Morning traders and a merry Christmas to all who follow these threads. Special holiday thanks to Trees for her dedication to the after market lounge, the swingiest trading talk shop in town. With Endless and many regular posters on holiday leave, this thread will run through to the early market close at 2.10pm EST (including auction).

Market wrap:

Further signs of a strengthening US economy fuelled fresh records on Wall Street overnight and should push Australian stocks to a fourth straight gain today.

The March SPI 200 futures contract rallied 27 points or 0.5% to 5296 as improved consumer sentiment and spending helped ensure the Santa Rally continued in the US.

The S&P 500 hit a new all-time high en route to a final tally of ten points or 0.53%. The Dow put on 74 points or 0.46% and the Nasdaq rose 44 points or 1.08% to 4,149, its highest close since September 2000.

"This is a very good seasonal period of time for the markets," Eric Green, director of research and fund manager at Penn Capital Management in the US, told Bloomberg. "Most of the economic data points suggest stronger growth going forward."

Consumer spending increased by a seasonally-adjusted 0.5% last month, the strongest pace since June. The personal income reading was less positive, rising 0.2% versus a 0.4% gain anticipated by economists. Another report showed consumer sentiment this month hit its highest level since July.

Also helping sentiment were yesterday's comments by International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde that the IMF will upgrade its economic outlook for US growth, and strong gains in Apple after the market heavyweight signed a deal to sell iPhones through China Mobile.

BHP and Rio Tinto made further headway in US action, despite an ongoing deterioration in the price of iron ore. BHP advanced 0.5%, Rio 0.4%. Spot iron ore for import to China yesterday fell 0.6% to US$131.90 a tonne.

A retreat in the US dollar failed to keep gold above the US$1,200 an ounce level. Gold for February delivery was lately off $5.90 or 0.5% at US$1,197.70 an ounce.

Oil fell back from a two-month high. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was recently down 54 cents or 0.5% at US$98.82 a barrel.

Zinc recorded a 10-month high on falling supplies during a mixed session for base metals. In late trade in London, zinc was up 1.2%, copper 0.2% and lead 0.7%. Tin and nickel lost 0.2% and aluminium 1.2%. US copper for March delivery was recently unchanged at US$3.31 a pound.

European markets rallied for a fourth night, with gains accelerating into the close. Germany's DAX put on 0.51%, France's CAC 0.94% and Britain's FTSE 1.01%.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

JINGLE BELLS: A splendid year is coming to a close on an upswing. Today's holiday-shortened session appears likely to deliver a fourth straight advance on the ASX for the first time since mid-October. There is a possibility of a little caution/profit taking towards the close with the US due to trade twice before we re-open on Friday (Wall Street returns to work on Boxing Day), but generally the outlook for the day is cheery. US gold miners held their ground despite another wobble in the price of the metal. Biotechs were a standout among the sectors.

ECONOMIC NEWS: No significant domestic news scheduled today. The US has durable goods/core durable goods, new home sales and the Richmond Manufacturing Index tonight, and weekly jobless claims on Thursday night.

Good luck to all.