Morning Bell 29 October

Wall Street closed higher on Tuesday as investors bought back into the AI thematic ahead of the Fed’s anticipated rate cut announcement at the conclusion of the FOMC meeting this week. The major averages reset record highs again on Tuesday with the Dow jones rose 0.34%, while the S&P500 gained 0.23% and the Nasdaq ended the day up 0.8%.

In Europe overnight markets closed mixed as the UK’s FTSE100 hit a fresh record high closing up 0.44% while the STOXX 600 fell 0.22%, Germany’s DAX lost 0.12% and the French CAC ended the day down 0.27%.

Across the Asia region on Tuesday, markets closed mostly lower as investors digested a new rare earths deal signed by U.S. President Donald Trump and Japan’s new Prime Minister Senae Takaichi. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.58%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.33%, China’s CSI index fell 0.51% and South Korea’s Kospi index retreated 0.8% on Tuesday.

Locally on Tuesday, the ASX200 posted a 0.48% loss despite records set on Wall St on Monday and prospects of a trade deal between the US and China nearing fruition. The local market sell-off was due to heavy weights tumbling like WiseTech Global which plunged over 15.5% and CSL which also ended the day down over 15.5%.

WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) had investors fleeing yesterday after reports surfaced that the Australian Federal Police and ASIC allegedly raided the offices of the company in search of information related to share sales by the company’s founder and several colleagues.

CSL (ASX:CSL) tanked after downgrading guidance amid softer demand for influenza vaccines in the US and the company also announced it is delaying the demerger of Seqirus, its vaccine division, until market conditions improve.

Investors also sold out of Liontown yesterday after the lithium miner released a quarterly update outlining a small increase in production but a sharp decline in sales and higher costs during the period.

What to watch today:

• On the commodities front this morning oil is trading 2.25% lower at US$59.93/barrel, gold is down 0.65% at US$3955.58/ounce and iron ore is down 0.01% at US$105.56/tonne.
• The Aussie dollar has strengthened against the greenback to buy 65.89 US cents, 100.09 Japanese yen, 49.02 British pence and 1 New Zealand dollar and 14 cents.
• Ahead of the midweek trading session the SPI futures are anticipating the ASX will open the day up 0.17%.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter has increased the 12-month price target on Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) from $1.15 to $1.30 per share and maintain a buy rating on the lithium producer following the release of the company’s Q1 trading update including lithium concentrate production and sales that topped Bell Potter’s expectations while revenue fell slightly short due to weaker realised prices and a delayed shipment.
• And Trading Central has identified a bullish signal on Universal Stores (ASX:UNI) following the formation of a pattern over the period of 259 days which is roughly the same amount of time the share price may rise from the close of $9.10 to the range of $11.80 to $12.50 according to standard principles of technical analysis.