Morning traders. Thanks Trees and after-market regulars. Market...

Morning traders. Thanks Trees and after-market regulars.

Market wrap:

Futures traders expect the share market to open little changed after yesterday pre-empting overnight weakness on Wall Street and falls in key commodities.

The September SPI200 futures contract eased two points or less than 0.1% to 5550 during a predictably soft session in the US after Apple, Microsoft and Yahoo! missed earnings targets. The ASX 200 retreated 1.5% yesterday as US equity futures signalled disappointment after the tech trio released earnings.

The S&P 500 opened at its low and neared break-even in early action before closing five points or 0.24% in the red. The Dow lost 68 points or 0.38% and the Nasdaq 36 points or 0.7%.

Tech stocks were the biggest drag for a second day as Apple - the world's biggest company by market capitalisation - dropped 4.29% after weak revenue and iPhone sales overshadowed a 38% increase in quarterly profits. Microsoft lost 3.74% after announcing its largest quarterly loss to date on disappointing computer sales and a write-down on Nokia.

“Investors are cautious because some of the bigger names have missed expectations,” Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth, told Bloomberg. “The two giants reporting is what’s causing the weakness today. Earnings season really isn’t that bad.”

Gains in financials helped offset losses elsewhere. Builders received a boost from news that homes sold last month at the fastest pace in eight years. Sales of existing homes increased by 3.2% to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.49 million. Read more here.

The energy sector declined 0.81% after oil settled below US$50 a barrel for the first time in three months. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for September delivery settled $1.67 or 3.3% lower at US$49.19 a barrel after an inventory update showed supplies in the US unexpectedly increased last week.

BHP slumped 4.99% in US trade after announcing production cutbacks in copper, coal and petroleum next year. Read more here. Rio Tinto lost 2.4%. Spot iron ore for import to China yesterday dropped $1.40 to US$50.70 a dry ton.

Gold extended its decline into a tenth session, closing at a new five-year low. Gold for August delivery settled $12 or 1.1% weaker at US$1,091.50 an ounce. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs index trimmed sharp initial losses to 0.29%.

Copper plumbed a two-week low as the US dollar resumed its uptrend. In London, copper declined 1.7%, aluminium 0.1%, lead 0.8%, nickel 1.7%, tin 3.7% and zinc 1.7%. US copper for September delivery was recently down 1.8% at US$2.43 a pound.

"Confidence in Chinese growth and demand is still falling," Eugen Weinberg, analyst at Commerzbank, told Reuters. "Equity markets are weaker generally and investors are concerned."

Weakness in resource and tech stocks helped pull European stocks lower for a second night. The Stoxx Europe 600 gave up 0.59%, Germany's DAX 0.72%, France's CAC 0.47% and Britain's FTSE 1.5%.

The dollar was this morning buying 73.8 US cents.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

WATERS REMAIN CHOPPY: The ASX took a pretty deep bath yesterday in anticipation of a bad night on Wall Street. In the event, US losses were not as heavy as might have been expected, however, other negative developments may keep the pressure on our market today. US investors took a big stick to BHP following yesterday's write-down, so it may have further to fall today (ASX loss yesterday: 2.05%, US loss overnight: 4.99%). Also, the commodities rout continued, with oil, gold, copper and iron ore all extending losses.  

ECONOMIC NEWS: No significant domestic news scheduled today. Another light menu tonight in the US includes weekly jobless claims and a leading index.

Good luck to all.