Daytrading October 19 pre-market

Morning traders. Thanks Trees and weekend regulars.

Market wrap:

The share market is primed for another crack at 5300 ahead of lunchtime Chinese economic data after US stocks edged to an eight-week high on Friday.

The December SPI200 futures contract rallied 22 points or 0.4% to 5274 as Wall Street sealed a third straight winning week with traders continuing to welcome downbeat economic data as a reason for rates to stay on hold.

"The data came in and emboldened investors," Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in the US, told CNBC. "It looks like we're setting up for reasonable growth with no inflation. ... It's just more of the 'slightly bad news is good news' [because it delays a rate hike]."

The S&P 500 shook off mid-session losses to close nine points or 0.46% ahead at its highest point since August 20. The Dow gained 74 points or 0.33% and the Nasdaq 17 points or 0.34%.

Traders were once again willing to take the positives from another round of mixed economic and corporate earnings news. Industrial production declined for a second straight month last month as a strong dollar continued to crimp overseas demand. Total production dipped 0.2% from August.

Job openings fell back during August from record levels in July. Consumer sentiment improved for the first time in four months, rising to 92.1 this month from 87.2 in September.  

The first big week of Q3 earnings wrapped up with GE rising 3.39% to a seven-year high, Mattel gaining 6.04% after reaffirming its dividend and Honeywell falling 1.49% on a revenue miss. The corporate reporting season cranks up another notch this week with reports due from the likes of Microsoft, Amazon, Morgan Stanley, Procter & Gamble and Caterpillar.

Health was the pick of the ten S&P 500 industry groups. Overall market gains were capped by a 1.58% slump in the Dow Jones Transportation Average, a flat session for small caps (Russell 2000: -0.04%) and a 3.12% decline in the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs index after gold slipped off a four-month peak. Gold for December delivery settled $4.40 or 0.4% lower at US$1,183.10 an ounce, the first decline in six sessions.

Australia's largest miners retreated as a rising greenback pressured commodity prices. BHP shed 1.61% and Rio Tinto 2.17% in US trade. Spot iron ore for import to China fell 60 cents to US$52.60 a dry ton.

Copper retreated from its highest level in almost a month as weak US industrial output capped buyer interest. London copper fell 0.4%, aluminium 0.1%, tin 0.2% and zinc 1.4%. Lead improved 0.9% and nickel 0.4%. US copper for December delivery dropped 0.9% to US$2.40 a pound.

US energy stocks eked out a slender gain after crude oil broke a four-session losing run. The energy ETF gained 0.13%. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for November delivery settled 88 cents or 1.9% ahead at US$47.26 a barrel on Friday, but roughly 5% lower for the week.

European stocks rallied to end the week modestly higher. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.59% for a weekly advance of 0.1%. Germany's DAX put on 0.39% for the session, France's CAC 0.59% and Britain's FTSE 0.62%.

The dollar was this morning buying 72.63 US cents.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

5300, CHINA: A broadly positive lead from Wall Street gives us a shot at overhead resistance first up this morning before Chinese economic data threatens to throw cold water on the rally. The pundits expect Chinese GDP slowed to growth of 6.8% last quarter from 7% the three months before. September industrial production and fixed asset investment are also expected to show modest slowdowns. Any upside surprises could push the XJO through resistance. Resource stocks were weak in the US on Friday, so we'll likely need the big banks and other sectors to step up. The global market mood is quite chipper going into what is likely to be a choppy week as corporate earnings continue to dictate the mood in the US.

ECONOMIC NEWS: No significant domestic news scheduled today. The big intraday news comes at 1pm EST with the release of quarterly Chinese GDP data and monthly industrial production, fixed asset investment and retail sales. The Chinese National Bureau of Statistics starts a press conference half an hour later.

Good luck to all.