Daytrading November 11 pre-market

Morning traders. Thanks Trees and after-market regulars.

Market wrap:

A steady start to Australian trade looks likely following a mixed close on Wall Street and declines in industrial metals.

The December SPI200 futures contract edged up seven points or 0.1% to 5083 as the S&P 500 broke a four-session losing run, copper and nickel hit 11-week lows and zinc fell to its weakest level in five years.

US stocks struggled for direction as market heavyweight Apple fell more than 3% on signs that demand for iPhones is lower than expected. The S&P 500 reversed an initial fall of around nine points to end the session three points or 0.15% ahead. The Dow edged up 28 points or 0.16%. The Nasdaq, which allocates Apple a greater weighting, shed 12 points or 0.24%.

“It feels like a little bit of a breather here,” Jeff Carbone, founder of Cornerstone Financial Partners in the US, told Bloomberg. “Earnings season is 95 percent through. Now it’s going to be what else can we look for to keep this market moving forward?”

US stocks began the week on a six-week winning streak, the longest of the year. Cyclical sectors declined overnight, while defensive sectors including utilities and consumer staples rallied.

“Markets came too far too fast moving in a straight line over the last six weeks and took away the bargains. When there is nothing to buy, people tend to sell,” James M. Meyer, chief investment officer at Tower Bridge Advisors in the US, told MarketWatch.

Shares in Apple, the world's largest company by market capitalisation, dropped 3.18% after Credit Suisse said the company had reduced orders for iPhone components by up to 10%, suggesting demand for the new iPhone 6s is not meeting the company's expectations. Read more here.

The market fell at the open after a flat close in Europe following yesterday's soft Chinese inflation figures. The October consumer price index came in 1.3% higher than the same month last year, short of the 1.5% growth expected by economists and down from 1.6% in September. The producer price index dropped 5.9%, its 44th monthly decline.

"The risk of deflation has accentuated," Liu Li-Gang, chief Greater China economist at ANZ Banking Group in Hong Kong, told Bloomberg. "This requires the PBOC [People's Bank of China] to engage in more aggressive policy easing."

Weakness in mining stocks capped gains in Europe. The Stoxx Europe 600 edged up 0.1%, Germany's DAX 0.16% and France's CAC 0.02%. Britain's FTSE shed 0.32%.

The Chinese data helped push zinc down 2.4% on the London Metal Exchange to its lowest level since June 2010. Copper touched an 11-week low before closing 0.8% lower. Aluminium gave up 0.1%, lead 1.5% and nickel 0.8%. Tin lifted 1.2%. US copper for December delivery was recently down 0.5% at US$2.22 a pound.

BHP marked a new seven-year closing low in the US, but closed above Monday night's nadir, down 0.23%. Rio Tinto rallied 1.38%. Spot iron ore for import to China yesterday held steady at US$47.70 a dry ton.

US gold stocks reversed Monday's gains as gold struggled to build on Monday's end to a seven-session losing run. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs index fell 2.91%. Gold for December delivery inched up 40 cents to settle at US$1,088.50 an ounce.

The US energy ETF gained 0.25% after crude oil rallied for the first time in five sessions. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for December delivery settled 34 cents or 0.78% ahead at US$44.21 a barrel.

The dollar was this morning buying 70.28 US cents.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

BASING?: Some late buying interest here yesterday suggested this two-and-a-half-week retrace on the XJO might have run long enough to attract bargain-hunters. NAB and ANZ - two of the biggest weights on the local index recently - got some attention at multi-year lows. Overnight, BHP steadied in the US overnight, but couldn't quite scrape out a gain. Rio rallied. Wall Street put in what might prove to be a reversal candle after four days of falls. The case against a rally today could include negative milestones for copper, zinc and nickel overnight, weakness in US gold miners and perhaps the dollar hanging just above 70 US cents.

ECONOMIC NEWS: October consumer sentiment figures are due at 10.30am EST. China releases October industrial production, retail sales and fixed asset investment data at 4.30pm. A slow week for US data continues with a blank tonight for the Veterans Day bank holiday. The New York Stock Exchange will trade as normal.

Good luck to all.