daytrading sep 30 pre-market

Morning traders.

Market wrap: Australian stocks are set to open stronger after upbeat US economic news and a "yes" vote in the German parliament helped US stocks advance.

The December SPI futures contract ended the night session 21 points or 0.4% ahead at 4027. A volatile night saw US stocks wobble before a late rally, European stocks end mixed, oil inch ahead and copper weaken.

US stocks jumped at the opening bell after Germany voted to expand the European bailout fund and US GDP and weekly jobless claims beat expectations. However the major indexes frittered away most of the early gains before a kick in the final hour. The Dow added 143 points or 1.3% after earlier putting on 260 points. The S&P 500 added 0.81% and the Nasdaq lost 0.43% as technology stocks took a hit.

Most European markets advanced after the German parliament voted 523 to 85 for an expanded bailout fund. The scale of the landslide was hailed as a victory for Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose support for Greece has come under heavy criticism within her own country. More than half of the euro-zone's 17 members have now approved amendments to the European Financial Stability Facility. Germany's DAX rallied 1.1% and France's CAC put on 1.07% but Britain's FTSE lost 0.4% as US stocks lost ground.

Sentiment in the US was further boosted by a decline in weekly jobless claims to a five-month low and an upgrade to economic growth figures. Jobless claims plunged 37,000 to 391,000, much lower than the 417,000 expected by economists. Second-quarter GDP was raised from an initial reading of 1% to 1.3%.

"We got two excellent numbers," the chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors told Bloomberg. "It suggests that we are coming out of the soft patch and not spiralling into a double-dip recession."

The economic news helped oil shake off early weakness. Crude for November delivery was recently $1.94 or 2.4% stronger at US$83.11 a barrel.

"Any economic news does have some impact on oil prices," the chief executive at energy-consulting firm Perry Management told MarketWatch. "Again this is just a glimmer of hope as of now. Jobless claims need to get below 375,000 and stay below to have a significant impact on recovery. And to really boom, they need to drop below 200,000 and stay below for some time."

Copper continued its decline as Chinese buying remained subdued despite recent price weakness, but other metals rallied. Copper is on track for its worst quarter since the GFC. In London, copper fell 1.1% and zinc 0.7%. Aluminium added 0.25%, lead 0.7%, nickel 0.4% and tin 1.3%. US copper was recently off 0.1%.

"China is the lynch-pin in the copper market," a broker and futures analyst at FuturePath Trading told MarketWatch. "If they're buying, we're up, and if they're not, we're down, and right now, they're not buying."

Precious metals were mixed as the US dollar slipped and progress in Europe reduced gold's appeal as a haven. Gold for December delivery was recently off $1.60 or 0.1% at US$1,616.50 an ounce. December silver added 52 cents or 1.7% at US$30.66 an ounce.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

GOOD NEWS DAY: You wouldn't necessarily know it from our futures but there was plenty of good news around last night: Germany voted to expand the European bailout fund and two pieces of data suggested that recession fears in the US are overblown. US traders didn't know whether to take profits from big rises earlier in the week or add to positions and finally opted for the latter. Financials were the big winner, which may give our banks a leg-up this morning. Small caps also did well, pushing the Russell 2000 up 1.7%. Tech stocks, industrials and consumer stocks were the main drags. Keep an eye on revised Chinese manufacturing figures due at 12.30 pm AEST.

END-OF-QUARTER WINDOW DRESSING?: The curtain falls on a dismal quarter today, the second straight quarterly loss and likely to be the worst since the GFC. Fund managers and other financial operators remunerated on their quarterly performance have an interest in stoking the index at the end of the quarter to improve their figures. Not much can be done to rescue this quarter but we might see a better session than our futures suggest, with the last hour of particular interest.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Japan releases a raft of data just ahead of our market open this morning, including manufacturing, industrial production and inflation. Australian private sector credit figures are due at 11.30 am AEST. The most important data to be released during our trading hours today are revised Chinese manufacturing figures due at 12.30 pm. Tonight's US schedule includes personal spending, personal income, Chicago PMI, core price index and revised consumer sentiment and inflation expectations.

Good luck to all.