Daytrading November 12 pre-market

Morning traders. Thanks Trees and after-market regulars.

Market wrap:

A mid-session fade on Wall Street points to mild pressure on the ASX following mixed Chinese economic data and declines in commodities.

The December SPI200 futures contract dipped 17 points or 0.3% to 5111 as BHP marked a new seven-year low, oil settled at its weakest point in more than two months and zinc and lead recorded multi-year lows.

US stocks traded either side of break-even for much of the night before fading to session lows at the closing bell. The S&P 500 was up as much as five points mid-session and ended seven points or 0.32% lower on a night short of market-moving news due to the Veterans Day bank holiday. The fall was the index's fifth in six sessions. The Dow shed 56 points or 0.32% and the Nasdaq 16 points or 0.32%.

“There’s a lot of news behind us and not a lot of potentially market-moving news ahead of us in the short term,”  James Gaul, portfolio manager at Boston Advisors in the US, told Bloomberg. “It seems like it’s going to be quiet because there aren’t a whole lot of obvious catalysts right now. Today might just be a little bit of a digestion day.”

October Chinese economic data released shortly after the close of Australian equity trade yesterday had limited impact as an improvement in retail sales helped offset mildly disappointing factory output. Retail sales were up 11% year on year, compared to growth of 10.9% in September and expectations that growth would hold steady at 10.9% last month. Growth in industrial production continued to slow, with last month's six-month low of 5.6% down from September's 5.7% and below expectations for growth of 5.8% year on year.

"The marginal fall in October's industrial production growth showed support from the rapid development of new industries was still insufficient while traditional industries were having deep corrections," the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement quoted on AFP. "The industrial economy is still facing downward pressures looking forward."

Energy stocks were the biggest weight on the S&P 500 after crude settled at its lowest point since late August. The US energy ETF gave up 2.11%. West Texas Intermediate crude oil December delivery settled $1.28 or 2.9% lower at US$42.93 a barrel following news that US inventories increased last week.

The consumer discretionary sector was also a drag after retail giant Macy's slashed sales and profit forecasts. Shares in the company closed 13.99% lower, its largest fall in seven years.

BHP's run of losses in the US extended into a sixth session. The Big Australian closed 3.18% lower at a new post-GFC low. Rio Tinto dropped 0.88%. Spot iron ore for import to China yesterday held steady for a second day at US$47.70 a dry ton.

Lead hit a five-year low on the London Metal Exchange and zinc a six-year nadir before rebounding. Copper fell to within US$30 of a six-year low before also recovering. London copper closed 0.2% ahead, aluminium gained 0.7%, nickel 0.4%, tin 1% and zinc 0.1%. Lead lost 1.1%. US copper for December delivery was recently down 0.1% at US$2.22 a pound.

US gold stocks rebounded despite further pressure on the precious metal. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs index improved 0.98%. Gold for December delivery settled $3.60 lower at US$1,084.90 an ounce, a three-month closing low.
  
European stocks were boosted by confirmation of a merger between SABMiller and Anheuser-Busch, offsetting disappointment that European Central Bank President did not address monetary policy during a speech last night ahead of tonight's ECB policy meeting. The Stoxx Europe 600 rallied 0.65%, Germany's DAX 0.7%, France's CAC 0.82% and Britain's FTSE 0.35%.

The dollar was this morning buying 70.63 US cents.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

GENTLE DECLINE RESUMES?: Wall Street continued to drift lower overnight during a low-key Veterans Day session. There is nothing alarming about this retrace - at least not yet - the market ran hard, earnings season is winding down and there has been very little economic data this week. The ASX is doing it much tougher, with BHP on the nose over its Brazilian fiasco and the big banks still suffering the washout from an underwhelming earnings season and fears that the property boom has peaked. Fortunately, the animal spirits are still running at the speculative end of the market. Yesterday was a cracker. More today please. The monthly jobs report at 11.30am EST is a wildcard with the capacity to throw the cat among the pigeons.

ECONOMIC NEWS: The October consumer inflation expectations survey is due at 11am EST, but today's big domestic event is the 11.30am October employment report. A conference address by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is likely to be tonight's US highlight. Also due: weekly benefit claims, JOLTS Job Openings, crude oil inventories and speeches by three more Fed board members.

Good luck to all.