Wall Street started the shorter trading week strongly, finishing higher by market close on Monday. The Dow Jones jumped 0.58%, the S&P 500 closed 0.74% higher and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended Monday 1.13% in the green. Markets remain in rally mode post the release of softer-than-expected inflation data out of the world’s largest economy last week. 

The tech-driven rally on Monday was led by Microsoft lifting 2%, following the announcement of former OpenAI chief Sam Altman, joining to lead a new research team. Chipmaker, Nvidia also added 2.3% before its earnings report release on Tuesday afternoon.

Over in Europe, markets closed marginally higher as the release of third quarter earnings starts to slow. The STOXX600 closed 0.1% higher, led by oil and gas stocks up 1.3%. Germany’s DAX fell 0.11%, the French CAC gained 0.18% and over in the UK the FTSE 100 ended the day 0.11% in the red.

Locally yesterday, the ASX200 closed 0.12% higher, led by gains in the energy and consumer discretionary sectors of 1.33% and 0.64% respectively. This was slightly offset by losses in the consumer staples sector of 0.83%

What to watch today:

• The Australian share market is set to open higher, with the SPI futures suggesting a rise of 0.37% at the open this morning.
• In terms of economic data today, at 10:30am this morning, the RBA minutes meeting will be released following the rise in the cash rate to 4.35%.
• On the commodities front this morning,
  • Oil is up 2.26% to US$77.75 with surging crude oil inventories in the US and Russia recently lifting a ban on gasoline exports. 
  • Gold is down 0.1% to US$1,977 an ounce and iron ore is up 1.51% to US$134.50 a tonne.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter maintains a buy rating on Accent Group (ASX:AX1), despite lowering the price target by $0.15 to $2.35. The slight decrease in the 12-month price target follows the leading athleisure retail company releasing a trading update for the first 19-weeks of FY24 including group owned sales and gross margins remaining broadly flat on the prior corresponding period. The buy rating is maintained though as Accent Group is Bell Potter’s preferred retail sector stock given its scale and exposure in terms of channels, brands and size. 
• Trading Central has identified a bearish signal in Lifestyle Communities (ASX:LIC), indicating that the stock price may fall from the close of $17.37 to the range of $14.40 to $14.90, over a period of 15 days, according to the standard principles of technical analysis.