Wall St closed higher to start the trading week, posting back to back session gains following recent tariff policy news which has softened the market. The Dow Jones rose by 0.85%, the S&P500 jumped 0.65% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rallied by 0.31%.

Over in Europe, markets followed the US and closed higher to start the trading week on a positive note. The STOXX600 closed 0.79% higher with all but one major sector closing in the green. Germany’s DAX jumped 0.73%, the French CAC climbed 0.56% and over in the UK, the FTSE100 ended Monday’s trading session 0.73% in the green.

Locally yesterday, the Australian share market rose by 0.83% with the majority of sectors closing in the green. Gains were led by the materials and energy sectors which rose by 1.97% and 1.72% respectively. This was offset by the health sector which fell by 0.27% by market close.

What to watch today:

• The Australian share market is set to open higher, with the SPI futures suggesting a rise of 0.67% at market open this morning.
• On the commodities front this morning,
  • Oil is trading 0.45% higher at 67 US dollars and 48 cents a barrel, gold is trading 0.6% higher at 3001 US dollars an ounce and iron ore is trading 0.68% higher at 102 US dollars and 85 cents a tonne.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter maintains a buy rating on Nufarm Ltd (ASX:NUF) with a 12-month price target of $4.75. With a current share price of $3.84, this indicates a share price growth of 23.7% over the next 12-months, hence the buy rating is maintained.
• And Trading Central has identified a bullish signal on Nick Scali (ASX:NCK), indicating that the stock price may rise from the close of $15.69 to the range of $19.20-$20, on a pattern formed over 26 days according to the standard principles of technical analysis.