European stocks closed lower overnight after the Bank of England opted for a more hawkish 50 basis point rate hike. The STOXX 600 is down 0.5%, trimming earlier losses of more than 1%. The index has posted declines in all four sessions so far this week. 

US equities saw little improvement overnight as Wall Street heads for a losing week. The Nasdaq performed best as investors boosted tech stocks, after a three- day breather from the market rally and Apple shares moved to a new all-time high. The Nasdaq closed 0.95% higher, the S&P500 up 0.37%, while the Dow Jones closed flat. 

What to watch today: 

• The SPI futures are suggesting our local market will drop 0.1% at the open this morning. 
• In commodities, 
  • Crude oil has dropped more than 4% to approach US$69 a barrel, as hawkish messages from major central banks raised concerns that interest rates will continue to march higher for longer, therefore impacting demand further. 
  • The price of gold extended losses hitting its lowest in over three months, following the hawkish outlook for major central banks, which continues to pressure the demand for non-interest-bearing bullion assets. 
  • Iron ore is also trading in the red, as concerning macro data out from China underscored its struggle to recover from the pandemic lockdowns, particularly in the property sector. 

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter maintains a buy rating on Gold Road Resources (ASX:GOR) following the company’s production report. Production was impacted by reliability and utilisation of the production drills and availability of blasting resources and a significant rain event. Bell Potter have reduced their price target from $2.05 to $1.95. At GOR’s current share price of $1.60, this implies 21.9% share price growth in a year. 
• And Trading Central have identified a bearish signal in MAAS Group Holdings (ASX:MGH) indicating that the stock price may fall from the close of $2.57 to $2.19 to $2.27 over 33 days, according to the standard principles of technical analysis.