Last Friday, we saw the Aussie share market fall 2.3%, its biggest, single-day decline in two weeks and largest weekly loss since October 2020. It was a very broad selloff, with all sectors closing in the red.

Boral (ASX:BLD) was up 2% despite no news out from the company. Some mining stocks also performed well, including Gold Road Resources (ASX:GOR) and Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST).

Meanwhile, Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) fell a hefty 11% and Zip (ASX:Z1P) continued to come under pressure, falling 7.8%, now at a 52-week low of $3.33. 

The most traded stocks by Bell Direct clients last Friday included BHP (ASX:BHP) which fell 4.8% last Friday, despite the company announcing the completion of the shareholder vote on its unification. BHP will now seek approval from the UK courts. And if everything goes to plan, the unification will be complete on the 31st of January, meaning its UK-listed shares will stop trading at the close of trade next Friday, the 28th of January. 

In the US, all three benchmarks lost ground, the Nasdaq down the most, falling 2.7%. That it’s biggest weekly loss since October 2020. The Dow fell 450 points and the S&P500 slid 1.9%. This week, all eyes will be on Apple, Microsoft, and Tesla, who are set to post their earnings, as well as the Fed who will hold their two-day meeting in the middle of the week where conversations around rates will be important for the market to digest.

Following the negative session in the US, the futures are suggesting the Aussie share market will open 0.69% lower this morning. 

What to watch today:

• Fortescue Metals (ASX:FMG), following its late announcement last Friday that revealed the company had signed an agreement with China’s state-owned Sinosteel.
• South32 (ASX:S32) and Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) will release their Q4 production reports. 
• Economic news wise, the manufacturing and services flash PMI will be released this morning. 
• Oil prices fell for the second day in a row on Friday, following an unexpected rise in US crude and fuel inventories, while investors took profits after both benchmarks touched seven-year highs earlier in the week.
• The gold price fell slightly to US$1,834 per ounce. 
• And the lithium price lifted 2.4% to a record high. 
• Capital market company, Mirrabooka Investments (ASX:MIR) and Thorn Group (ASX:TGA) are going ex-dividend today. 

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter has maintained its BUY recommendation on metallurgical coal producer, Coronado Global Resources (ASX:CRN) with a price target of $1.70. Bell Potter believe CRN is highly leveraged to the current strength in seaborne and US domestic met coal markets and is now generating significant free cash flow. 
• Trading Central has a bullish signal on manganese producer Element 25 (ASX:E25). This signal indicates that the stock price may rise from the close of $1.47 to the range of $1.92 - $2.02 in the next 10 days, according to standard principles of technical analysis.