Wall St closed lower overnight following a hotter-than-expected CPI report. The Dow Jones lost half a percent, the S&P 500 dropped 0.27% and the tech heavy Nasdaq had a slight rise of 0.03%. January’s consumer price index jumped 0.5% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 3%, more than the 0.3% rise expected by economists in January.

Over in Europe, markets closed higher as earnings season continues. The STOXX600 ended Wednesday’s trading session 0.11% higher, Germany’s DAX rose half a percent, the French CAC jumped 0.17% and over in the UK the FTSE100 closed 0.34% in the green.

Locally yesterday, the ASX200 gained 0.6% with the majority of sectors closing in the green. Gains were led by the industrial and financial sectors which gained 1.93% and 1.41% respectively. This was offset by the information technology sector which fell 1.05% 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 0.04% at market open this morning.
• On the commodities front this morning,
   
  • Oil is trading 2.79% lower at 71 US dollars and 27 cents a barrel, gold is trading 0.13% higher at 2902 US dollars an ounce, and iron ore is trading 0.61% lower at 106 US dollars and 32 cents a tonne.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter maintains a buy rating on Perpetual Limited (ASX:PPT) with a 12-month price target of $25.40. With a current share price of $22.50, this indicates a share price growth of 12.9%, hence the buy rating is maintained.
• Trading Central has identified a bearish signal on Kelsian Group (ASX:KLS), indicating that the stock price may fall from the close of $3.53 to the range of $3.23-$3.29, on a pattern formed over 20 days according to the standard principles of technical analysis.