Wall St closed lower overnight following the release of inflation data that came out higher than expectations. The Dow Jones fell 0.35%, the S&P500 lost 0.29% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day 0.3% in the red.

US producer price index for February came out overnight, showing a 0.6% rise month on month, double the consensus and forecast of 0.3%.

Over in Europe, markets closed lower following further inflation readings coming out of the US. The STOXX600 closed down 0.2% with media stocks ending the session 0.7% higher and mining stocks falling 1.4%. Germany’s DAX fell 0.11%, the FTSE100 fell 0.37% with the French CAC gaining 0.29%.

Locally yesterday, the ASX200 fell 0.20% by market close yesterday. Losses were lead by the financial and consumer discretionary sectors which lost 1.88% and 0.73% respectively. This was offset by the materials sector which rallied 1.85% by the end of the trading session.

What to watch today: 

• The Australian share market is set to open lower, with the SPI futures suggesting a fall of 0.73% at market open this morning.
• On the commodity front this morning,
   
  • Oil is trading 1.72% higher to US$81.09 cents a barrel as the IEA increased its 2024 demand-growth estimation for crude oil to 1.3 million barrels from 1.2 million. 
  • Gold is trading lower just over half a percent at US$2162 an ounce as the US inflation reading overnight made investors question the Fed’s interest rate cuts. 
  • And iron ore is trading 3.15% lower at US$107.50 cents a tonne.

Trading Ideas: 

• Bell Potter has initiated coverage on McMillan Shakespeare (ASX:MMS) and has a buy recommendation with a 12-month price target of $22.52. McMillan Shakespeare is a leading provider of employee benefits within remuneration packages and operated commercial fleets and disability support services. It has been initiated as a buy rating as MMS provides a unique exposure to a growing demand profile for renewable fuels and vehicle electrification on the ASX. Australia will need to achieve more than 50% of new EV sales by 2030 to meet current climate targets.
• And Trading Central has identified a bearish signal in Tourism Holdings (ASX:THL), indicating that the stock price may fall form the close of $3.10 to the range of $2.25-$2.40 on a pattern formed over 183 days, according to the standard principles of technical analysis.