Morning Bell 22 July

Wall Street closed with records across 2 of the 3 major averages on Monday as optimism around earnings overshadowed investor fears of the latest tariff developments. The S&P500 rose 0.14% to close over 6300 for the first time, the Nasdaq added 0.38% to also post a record close and the Dow jones ended the day down just 0.04%. This second quarter earnings season has started very strong in the U.S. with Verizon shares popping 4% yesterday following a Q2 earnings beat while Alphabet added over 2% ahead of its earnings out after the closing bell on Wednesday.

In Europe overnight, markets closed mixed to start the new trading week amid tariff uncertainty. The STOXX 600 fell 0.1%, Germany’s DAX closed flat, the French CAC fell 0.3% and, in the UK, the FTSE100 ended the day up 0.2%. Ryan Air shares rose 6% on Monday after the airline posted a 128% rise in Q1 profit which topped market expectations.

Across the Asia region on Monday, markets closed mixed as China held its key 1 and 5 year loan prime rates steady despite the struggling economic recovery in the region. China’s CSI index rose 0.67%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.57%, Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.21% and South Korea’s Kospi index ended the day up 0.71%.

 Locally to start the new trading week, investors were in profit taking mode after the key index reset its record high to end the last trading week, leading to a 1.02% decline at the closing bell on Monday. Stocks that have run hot over the last 12-months like the big banks and some gold stocks came under pressure yesterday. Energy and Materials stocks were the only sectors to finish the day in the green while financials stocks took the biggest hit to start the new week 2.26% lower.

Block Inc (ASX:XYZ) soared over 11% yesterday on news the company is entering the S&P500 from this Wednesday after Chevron acquired Hess Corp which left room for Block to enter the major US index. AMP (ASX:AMP) also jumped 9.3% after the company released a strong Q2 update including superannuation positive net inflows for the first time since 2017.

Most traded securities:

• The most traded investments by Bell Direct clients to start the new week were led by:
  • DroneShield (ASX:DRO) 
  • BHP (ASX:BHP)
  • Mesoblast (ASX:MSB)

What to watch today:

• On the commodities front this morning oil is trading 0.56% lower at US$66.97/barrel, gold is up 1.4% at US$3397/ounce and iron ore is up 0.04% at US$97.22/tonne.
• The Aussie dollar has strengthened against the greenback overnight to buy 65.24 U.S. cents, 96.17 Japanese yen, 48.54 British pence and 1 New Zealand dollar and 9 cents.
• Ahead of Tuesday’s trading session the SPI futures are anticipating the ASX will open the day up 0.13% tracking the record closes on Wall Street overnight.

 Trading ideas:

• Bell Potter has downgraded the rating on Perenti (ASX:PRN) from a buy to a hold and have maintained the 12-month price target on the materials company at $1.80 following the company’s issue of an updated noting that FY25 free cash flow is likely to be $280m vs the previous guidance of greater than $150m. The downgrade to a hold is on the back of recent share price appreciation.
• And Trading Central has identified a bullish signal on Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) following the formation of a pattern over a period of 156 days which is roughly the same amount of time the share price may rise from the close of $6.42 to the range of $8.20 to $8.60 according to standard principles of technical analysis.