Wall St closed higher overnight as the Dow closed more than 300 points higher by market close. The S&P 500 rose over half a percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the trading session up 0.39% and the Dow Jones rallied 0.83%.

Over in Europe, markets closed higher as investors look to the start of the US Fed’s two-day policy meeting. The STOXX600 closed 0.26% higher with autos stocks rising 1.2%, whilst food and beverage stocks fell half a percent. Germany’s DAX rose 0.31%, the French CAC jumped 0.65% and over in the UK the FTSE100 ended Tuesday’s trading session 0.2% higher.

Locally yesterday, the ASX200 ended the day 0.36% higher with gains lead by the materials and energy sectors of 2.11% and 1.98% respectively. This was offset by the consumer staples sector which lost 0.84% by market close yesterday.

The RBA interest rate decision also came out yesterday, with it remaining at 4.35%, the same as its previous result.

What to watch today: 

• The Australian share market is set to open higher, with the SPI futures suggesting a rise of 0.17% at market open this morning.
• On the commodity front this morning,
   
  • Oil is trading 0.46% higher at US$83.10 a barrel as Iraq announced plans to reduce its oil exports to 3.3 million barrels per day in order to comply with the OPEC+ quota. 
  • Gold is trading 0.12% lower at US$2157 an ounce, as investors await the US Federal Reserve’s policy decision this week. 
  • And iron ore is trading 1.95% higher at US$104.50 a tonne.

Trading Ideas: 

• Bell Potter has maintained a buy rating on Nickel Industries (ASX:NIC), despite slightly decreasing the 12-month price target to $1.50. The buy rating is maintained by Bell Potter as NIC is trading on undemanding valuation multiples, offers a supportive dividend, has demonstrated its ability to make money through the nickel price cycle and is one of the worlds only listed nickel producer offering exposure across nickel products and markets.
• And Trading Central has identified a bullish signal in Tabcorp Holdings (ASX:TAH), indicating that the stock price may rise form the close of $0.80 to the range of $1.08-$1.14 on a pattern formed over 100 days, according to the standard principles of technical analysis.