daytrading march 4 pre-market

Morning traders. Many thanks to Michelef for skippering the pre-market/afternoon threads for the last few days - great job and much appreciated. Thanks also Meme and Gttrain for keeping the joint ticking over at other times.

Market wrap:

Shares are set to open modestly lower as part of a global sell-off of risk assets as markets absorb the implications of Russia's military intervention in Ukraine.

The March SPI 200 futures contract declined 15 points or 0.3% to 5374 on speculation that the ASX yesterday pre-empted the worst of the overnight selling as European stocks dived, Wall Street pared sharp initial falls and havens such as gold, treasuries and the US dollar rallied.

Financials led the retreat in the US as the S&P 500 fell 13 points or 0.72% from Friday's record close. The Dow, down as much as 250 points by mid-session, closed 154 points or 0.94% lower for its biggest decline in a month. The Nasdaq lost 0.72%.

"Global markets typically sell off on news of an escalated geopolitical crisis like we're seeing in Ukraine," Fred Dickson, chief investment strategist at DA Davidson & Co in the US, told Bloomberg. "How deep it goes depends on the effectiveness of diplomacy. We're in a camp that this is not a black swan event that will mark the end of the five-year bull market for stocks in the US and globally, but a modest correction event."

European markets bore the brunt of the selling. The Stoxx Europe 600 index slumped 2.27% for its biggest loss in five months. Germany's DAX tanked 3.44%, France's CAC 2.66% and Britain's FTSE 1.49%.

European leaders will meet on Thursday for an emergency summit to discuss how to respond to Russia's military incursion onto Ukrainian soil. Overnight, there were disputed claims that Russian troops had ordered Ukrainian forces to stand down or face attack.

Positive economic news had little impact on Wall Street as global concerns dominated trade. Manufacturing activity last month reached its highest level in four years, according to Markit's revised US purchasing managers index. Another report showed consumer spending increased by 0.4% in January, also ahead of expectations.

BHP and Rio Tinto lost ground in US trade as iron ore fell further below US$120 a tonne. BHP dropped 1.3%, Rio 2.64%. Spot iron ore for import to China yesterday slipped 40 cents to US$117.70.

An index of commodities neared a six-month high overnight as traders sought havens from the sell-off in stocks. The S&P GSCI Spot Index of 24 raw materials advanced as much as 2.1%.

With Europe heavily dependent on Russian fuel and sanctions likely, oil marked a five-month peak in the US. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for April delivery was lately up $2.02 or 2% at US$104.65 a barrel after settling at US$104.92.

Gold was another big winner from the flight to safety. Gold for April delivery was recently ahead $30.10 or 2.3% at US$1,351.70 an ounce after settling at US$1,350.30, the highest level in more than four months.

Copper plumbed a 14-week low in London as Ukrainian jitters dampened demand. On the London Metal Exchange, copper dropped 0.6% and tin 2.5%. Zinc, aluminium, lead and nickel also fell. US copper for March delivery was recently off 0.4% or more than a cent at US$3.17 a pound.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

GLOBAL RETRACE: I leave you blokes alone for three days and when I get back you've only gone and let them start World War 3. Can't pretend I'm not disappointed. Well, let's hope that's not what's building. It's obviously more likely that we're in for a few weeks of sabre rattling and a decent retrace on world markets before Wall Street adapts to the new reality and resumes its uptrend. Meantime, it's probably best not to be over-exposed, at least until the dust settles. Intraday volatility should be up, judging by the bargain hunting here yesterday and on Wall Street overnight. Gold and oil are obvious beneficiaries from the situation, for different reasons. The Reserve Bank has a rates decision this afternoon but the odds on a change are miniscule.

ECONOMIC NEWS: A busy day for domestic news includes building approvals and current account data at 11.30am EST and a rate announcement at 2.30pm. There is little in the way of economic news in the US tonight to distract from the political games - economic optimism is the only report on the schedule.

Good luck to all.