Daytrading June 15 pre-market

Morning traders. Thanks Trees and after-market regulars.

Market wrap:

Australian stocks face a soft open after US and European markets retreated on fears of a Greek default and the latest negotiations broke up this morning without a breakthrough.

The June SPI 200 futures contract eased six points or 0.1% to 5528 on Saturday morning, but the share market may face additional pressure after hopes for weekend progress on Greece were dashed. Overnight talks between the indebted nation and its creditors lasted no more than an hour, with the two sides departing no closer to a new loan deal to avoid a Greek default and potential exit from the European Union.

US stocks fell on Friday as a June 30 deadline for Greece's next round of debt repayments cast a long shadow. The S&P 500 dropped 15 points or 0.7% to cut the index's gain for the week to a slim 0.1%. The Dow gave up 141 points or 0.78% on Friday for a weekly gain of 0.3%. The Nasdaq slid 31 points or 0.62% for a weekly loss of 0.3%.

“Every time we think we’re close to a deal with Greece there’s some kind of monkey wrench,” Karyn Cavanaugh, senior market strategist at Voya Investment Management in the US, told Bloomberg. “The more opaque the picture becomes with Greece the more people opine on what the potential repercussions would be and it’s a little touch and go.”

This weekend's talks, billed as a "last attempt" to bridge the gap between Greece and its troika of lenders, ended in frustration and recriminations, with European Union officials saying Greece brought nothing new to the table and Greece resisting demands for cuts to pensions and wages. Sources said the gap between the two sides amounts to about two billion euros each year in budget expenses. A European Commission spokesperson said there were no plans for further talks until a meeting of euro-zone finance ministers in Luxembourg on Thursday. Read more here, here and here.

European markets also faced selling pressure on Friday, falling for the first time in three sessions. The Stoxx Europe 600 slipped 0.92%, Germany's DAX 1.2%, France's CAC 1.41% and Britain's FTSE 0.9%. Greece's Athex Composite plunged 5.92%.

The failure of this morning's talks pushed the euro 0.4% lower in early trade. The Australian dollar was up around a third of a cent from Friday's close at 77.51 US cents.

All 10 S&P 500 industry groups dropped on Friday, led by energy stocks. The sector dropped 1.12% as West Texas Intermediate crude oil for July delivery settled 81 cents or 1.3% lower at US$59.96 a barrel. A recent rally in crude was capped by news that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is producing around a million barrels a day more than its production ceiling of 30 million barrels a day.

Friday's US economic data had little impact. Consumer confidence rebounded more than expected this month, pushing the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's index to 94.6 from 90.7 last month. Economists polled by Reuters had estimated the preliminary reading would be 91.5. Wholesale prices increased 0.5% in May, broadly in line with expectations.

Australia's largest miners were pulled down by the general negative trend in the US. BHP fell 0.53% and Rio Tinto 0.29% in US action. Spot iron ore for import to China eased 40 cents on Friday to US$65 a dry ton.

The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs index declined 0.85% as gold closed little changed. Gold for August delivery settled $1.20 or 0.1% in the red at US$1,179.20 an ounce. The metal gained around 1% last week, breaking a run of three straight weekly losses.

Zinc and lead fell to two-month lows as rising inventories underlined supply/demand concerns. In London, lead lost 0.2% while zinc recovered to close 0.2% ahead. Copper rose 0.5%. Aluminium gave up 0.6%, nickel 1.3% and tin 1% US copper for July delivery gained 0.3% to US$2.68 a pound.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

BRINKMANSHIP CONTINUES: Anyone spare a few coppers for Greece? I'm so tired of reading about it I'm willing to pass the hat around myself if it means I don't have to hear any more. Neither side in this negotiation has any incentive to give ground until the last possible minute, so we're likely stuck with up to two more weeks of Greek headlines. We've been here many times over the last five (?) years: fear of a Grexit drives markets lower, there is a last-minute fudge, everyone hugs and markets recover. Then a year or less later we go through the same cycle again. I feel like Bill Murray waking each morning to 'I Got You Babe' on the bedside radio. It's hard to know how seriously the ASX will treat the latest failure of negotiations - probably not that seriously at all. The market mood seemed to improve a little last week, though it could scarcely have been worse than the previous week, which delivered the index's biggest weekly loss in three years.

ECONOMIC NEWS: No significant domestic news scheduled today. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is due to testify before the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee at 11pm EST. US highlights include: industrial production, Empire State Manufacturing Index, capacity utilisation, Housing Market Index and long-term purchases.

Good luck to all.