Morning Bell 22 April

Wall St closed lower overnight as Donald Trump criticized Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell. The Dow Jones fell by 2.48%, the S&P 500 dropped 2.36% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended Monday’s trading session 2.55% in the red.

Over in Europe, markets closed flat on Thursday following the European Central Banks decision to cut interest rates. The STOXX600 fell 0.1% lower, Germany’s DAX fell 0.49%, the French CAC dropped 0.6% and over in the UK, the FTSE100 closed the trading session flat.

Locally on Thursday, the ASX200 closed 0.78% higher with all but one major sector closing in the green. Gains were led by the energy and material sectors which rose by 3.82% and 1.45% respectively. This was slightly offset by the health sector which dropped by 0.13% by the closing bell.

What to watch today:

• The Australian share market is set to open higher, with the SPI futures suggesting a rise of 0.6% at market open this morning.
• On the commodities front this morning,
  • Oil is trading 1.9% lower at US$63.45 per barrel 
  • Gold is trading 3.15% higher at US$3,431 an ounce 
  • Iron ore is trading 0.13% lower at US$99.92 per tonne.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter maintains a buy rating on Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) and has a 12-month price target of $2. With a current share price of $1.43 this indicates a share price growth of 40% over the next 12-months, hence the buy rating is maintained.
• Trading Central has identified a bullish signal on Light & Wonder (ASX:LNW) indicating that the share price may rise from the close of $125.67 to the range of $169-$179, on a pattern formed over 16 days, according to the standard principles of technical analysis.