daytrading jan 9 pre-market

Morning traders.

Market wrap:

A flat start to trade is likely after the ASX yesterday pre-empted a second losing night on Wall Street ahead of the start of a new US corporate earnings season.

The March SPI 200 futures contract ended the night session two points or less than 0.1% ahead at 4667 as US stocks continued to ease from last week's five-year high.

The S&P 500 retreated 0.33% in cautious trade before aluminium giant Alcoa marked the unofficial start of the Q4 reporting season by releasing results shortly after the close of regular trade on Wall Street this morning. The Dow gave up 55 points or 0.41% and the Nasdaq lost 0.22%.

"We had a brief respite courtesy of what happened on the fiscal cliff deal and the flip of the calendar with new money coming into the market," the senior vice-president at BB&T Wealth Management in the US told Reuters. "But now the stark reality of uncertainty with regard to earnings, plus the negotiations on the debt ceiling, are there and that doesn't give investors a lot of reason to take bets on the long side."

Shares in Alcoa were recently up 1.2% in after-market trade after the Dow component returned to profit in the fourth quarter. The aluminium giant reported a quarterly profit of 21 cents per share and revenue of US$5.9 billion.

US economic data was once again light, with the night's only significant reports showing a modest pick-up in sentiment among small businesses and a sizable increase in consumer credit. The NFIB small-business optimism index improved 0.5 points to 88 last month but remained stuck at a level typical of recessionary conditions, the group said. Consumer debt increased by a seasonally adjusted US$16.1 billion in November, the second big rise in a row and a possible sign that Americans were feeling more optimistic about the future.

European markets found enough positives in a slew of data to get off to a positive start, but most of the gains evaporated as Wall Street retreated. Germany's DAX slid 0.47%, France's CAC inched up 0.04% and Britain's FTSE lost 0.17% after unemployment in the euro-zone hit record levels, retail sales increased less than expected, German exports declined and economic sentiment improved. Read more here.

Gold broke a three-session losing run as the prospect of seasonal buying in China brought speculators back into the market. Gold for February delivery rallied $15.60 an ounce or 0.95% to US$1,661.90.

"Gold historically has shown a tendency for strong demand, and prices, in the second half of January," the editor of Gold Newsletter told MarketWatch. "This can be largely attributed to demand from China in the run-up to the Chinese New Year celebrations."

A rising US dollar kept the pressure on industrial metals. In London, copper dropped 0.2%, lead 0.2%, nickel 0.1%, tin 0.2% and zinc 0.7%. Aluminium advanced less than 0.1%. US copper for March delivery was recently down less than a cent or 0.1% at US$3.68 a pound.

Oil was little changed for a second night ahead of tonight's weekly US inventory report. West Texas crude for February delivery was lately up nine cents or 0.1% at US$93.28 a barrel.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

CONSOLIDATION CONTINUES: Another mild retreat on Wall Street, with the major indexes again finishing off their lows - a sign that there is still buying interest at these levels. Our market took its medicine yesterday and may have room to crawl higher today, provided US futures are happy with Alcoa's profit result, released after the close of regular trade this morning. The first few earnings reports each quarterly season have a disproportionate effect on market sentiment, which is why this morning's result matters, even though an aluminium producer is not a particularly useful economic bellwether. ASX trading volumes have been picking up steadily since their low on Christmas Eve and yesterday felt nearly normal for the first time this year. Hooray. But if you're holding yesterday's ASX bolter, AZS, you probably don't care about any of this. Let the ramping begin.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Monthly retail sales are due at 11.30am EST. New home sales are also likely this morning, exact time uncertain. Europe has final GDP data out tonight, plus German industrial production. Another exceptionally light night in the US features crude oil inventories and a 10-year bond auction.

Good luck to all.