Wall St closed higher overnight following a lighter than expected US inflation report. The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq closed at record highs gaining 1.17% and 1.4% respectively with the Dow Jones also rallying 0.88%. The consumer price index rose 0.3% in April which was 0.1% less than the 0.4% increase estimated by the Dow Jones.

Over in Europe, markets closed higher following the announcement of US inflation data. Germany’s DAX rose 0.82%, the French CAC climbed 0.17% and over in the UK, the FTSE100 ended the trading session 0.21% in the green.

What to watch today:

• The Australian share market is set to open higher with the SPI futures suggesting a rise of 0.64% at market open this morning.
• On the commodities front this morning,
   
  • Oil is trading 1.12% higher at 78 US dollars and 89 cents a barrel after the Energy Information Administration report showed a 2.508 million barrel decline in US crude stocks. 
  • Gold is trading 1.28% higher at 2385 US dollars an ounce as the latest economic data suggests the Federal Reserve could make further rate cuts before the end of the year.
  • And iron ore is trading over half a percent lower at 116 US dollars and 65 cents a tonne. 

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter maintains a buy rating on Australian Agriculture Co. (ASC:AAC) and has a 12-month price target of $2.00. The buy rating is maintained by Bell Potter as domestic cattle prices have rebounded and remain undervalued relative to meat price indicators, in addition agricultural land and water asset values also remained robust over CY23, hence the buy rating is maintained.
• Trading Central has identified a bullish signal on G8 Education (ASX:GEM), indicating that the stock price may rise from the close of $1.25 to the range of $1.38-$1.42 on a pattern formed over 56 days according to the standard principles of technical analysis.