Wall St closed mixed overnight as investors reacted to further earnings reports. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 both rose by 0.13% with the tech-heavy Nasdaq ending the trading session down 0.32%.

Over in Europe, markets closed slightly lower as markets failed to gain any positive momentum. The STOXX600 closed 0.2% lower with the majority of sectors ending the trading session in the red. Losses were led by banks which saw a fall of 1% but this was slightly offset by autos which saw a rise of 1.6%. Germany’s DAX and the French CAC both gained 0.29% and 0.22% respectively whilst over in the UK, the FTSE100 lost 0.73%. 

Locally yesterday, the ASX200 closed 0.66% lower with losses led by the consumer staples sector which fell 4.26% by the closing bell. This was offset by the information technology sector which saw a rise of 2.23% by market close.

And in some other big news locally yesterday, Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci stepped down amid a food price review with Amanda Bardwell appointed as the new CEO.

What to watch today:

• The Australian share market is set to open lower, with the SPI futures suggesting a fall of 0.42% at market open this morning.
• On the commodities front this morning,
  • Oil is trading 1.37% higher at US$78.08 cents a barrel as Houthi attacks on commercial vessels crossing the red sea, continue to disrupt supply logistics. 
  • Gold is up 0.08% to US$2025 an ounce and iron ore is trading 3.86% lower as new surveys are showing that new home sales in China have plummeted 34% since January last year.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter maintains a buy rating on Retail Food Group (ASX:RFG) and has kept its 12-month price target steady at $0.13. The buy rating is maintained by Bell Potter as they continue to view RFG’s valuation as undemanding and remain positive on the potential for resilience in the business given lower average transaction values and higher volumes across the majority of the domestic business.
• And Trading Central has identified a bullish signal on SG Fleet Group (ASX:SGF), indicating that the price may rise from the close of $2.65 to the range of $2.98-$3.08 on a pattern formed over 97 days, according to the standard principles of technical analysis.