daytrading march 7 pre-market

Morning traders.

Market wrap:

A cautiously positive start to trade is likely after upbeat US employment news lifted the Dow to a new record high.

The March SPI 200 futures contract rallied six points or 0.1% to 5128 despite weakness in BHP and Rio Tinto as a weak night for base metals saw copper touch a 15-week low.

The Dow extended Tuesday's all-time closing high by 42 points or 0.3% as a strong private-sector payroll report offset weak factory orders and anecdotal reports of slowing retail sales in the Federal Reserve's monthly economic review. The broader S&P 500 inched up 0.08%, while the Nasdaq eased 0.07%.

"The market's responding to some degree to fundamentals," the chief market strategist for North America at Russell Investments told Bloomberg. "The economy is growing, albeit at a frustrating pace."

Expectations for tomorrow night's monthly government jobs report rose after ADP's private payrolls report exceeded economists' predictions. ADP said the economy added 198,000 private jobs this month and the January reading was revised upwards to 215,000 from an initial reading of 192,000.

Other economic reports were less bullish. Factory orders declined by 2% in January, the biggest fall in five months, and an increase in December was revised downwards. The Federal Reserve's Beige Book business survey said several regions reported slowing retail sales following "fiscal cliff" tax hikes and higher fuel prices.

Financials and resource stocks led the gains, but BHP and Rio Tinto bucked the uptrend in miners. BHP lost 0.36% in US trade and Rio 0.39% despite an up-tick in the price of iron ore yesterday. Platts reported that the 62% Fe Iron Ore Index rose by US$1 to US$146.25 per dry metric tonne.

Copper led a retreat in base metals as weak US factory orders added to concerns over rising inventories. Copper stockpiles in London yesterday increased for a 15th straight day to their highest level since October 2011. In London, copper slumped 1.1%. Aluminum, lead, zinc and nickel also lost ground. Tin advanced. US copper for May delivery was recently off one cent or 0.2% at US$3.51 a pound.

Oil retreated after a report showed US inventories increased by three times as much as expected last week. The US Energy Information Administration said crude supplies rose 3.8 million barrels, versus analysts' expectations for a rise of around 1.1 million. West Texas crude for April delivery fell 43 cents or 0.5% to US$90.44 a barrel.

Gold advanced for a third session as traders positioned themselves for potential monetary easing at tonight's European Central Bank and Bank of England monthly meetings. Gold for April delivery was lately up $7.20 or %0.5 at US$1,582.50 an ounce.

European markets closed mixed and well off their highs as US factory orders raised questions about the economic impact of the January 1 tax increases in the US. Germany's DAX held on to a gain of 0.62% but France's CAC lost 0.35% and Britain's FTSE eased 0.06%.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

CONSOLIDATING THE GAINS: Not a lot of direction from the overnight moves: mixed sessions in the US and Europe, iron ore heading one way and copper the other, oil up, gold down. The Russell 2000 index of US small caps rallied, as did the Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index, but the Dow Jones Transportation Index declined. You're doing well if you can pick a pattern in all that. Trade balance figures due at 11.30am EST could offer our market some impetus. Another wildcard today is a possible stimulus move from the Bank of Japan. Expectations are high that the central bank will deliver on the new PM's pro-easing approach. Unfortunately, the BoJ does not provide specific times for its announcements.

ECONOMIC NEWS: The AIG Construction Index is due at 9.30am EST but the day's main domestic interest is the 11.30am trade balance report. A busy night in Europe includes rate decisions in the UK and euro-zone. US highlights are the trade balance, weekly jobless claims, bank stress test results, consumer credit, revised non-farm productivity and unit labour costs and natural gas storage.

Good luck to all.