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Profit taking was the theme in the US overnight, and, as a result, the Nasdaq dropped 1.6 per cent, the S&P 500 by 1.4 per cent and the Dow Jones, 1.2 per cent.
All of the megacap tech plays lost ground, only Nvidia managed to close slightly ahead. Fuelling profit taking were concerns around an economic slowdown after factory orders were down and Purchasing Managers Index data was below expectations – down more than 4.5 per cent year on year.
Off the back of this, futures tip the ASX200 will open a modest 0.1 per cent lower.
There’s some important data to land today, Australian Bureau of Statistics’ January Retail Trade figures as well as Australian National Accounts – income, expenditure and product data for December.
Small caps to watch this morning include Astral Resources (ASX:AAR) which reports assay results up to 3.81 grams per tonne of gold; Aruma Resources (ASX:AAJ) which has rare earths intersects at its Salmon Gums project – the highest of which is just above 900 parts per million total rare earths oxide; and, Globe Metals and Mining (ASX:GBE), which informs the market that CEO Grant Hudson will step down from the end of May.
Looking at commodities:
Uranium is down 6.8 per cent for the week so far, it’s been trading at US$95 a pound.
Iron Ore has slipped 1.2 per cent to US$116. Gold gained 1.3 per cent overnight to peak at $US2141.79 an ounce – it’s pulled back to be just below US$2130.
Crude oil is just above US$78 and natural gas has been up nearly 1.8 per cent to US$1.95.
