Wall Street started the new trading week lower, extending on Friday’s sharp inflation-data driven sell-off as many of the major tech companies come under pressure amid concerns over weakness in data centre spend and overvaluation in the space. The S&P500 lost 0.5% on Monday, the Nasdaq fell 1.21% and the Dow Jones ended the day down 0.08%. Trump tariffs are also weighing on investor sentiment at present after Trump said tariffs on Canada and Mexico will ‘go forward’ after the monthlong postponement ends next week.

In Europe overnight, markets mostly fell as investors reacted to the results of the German federal election. The STOXX 600 fell 0.08%, Germany’s DAX rose 0.62%, the French CAC lost 0.78% and, in the UK, the FTSE100 ended the day flat.

Shares in leading global on-demand food delivery company Just Eat Takeaway soared 54% after tech investor Prosus announced its plans to acquire the company in a deal worth $4.3bn.

Across the APAC region on Monday markets mostly fell taking lead from Wall Street’s worst session of the year last Friday after fresh inflation data in the US pointed to a slowing economy and sticky inflation. China’s CSI index fell 0.22%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.58%, South Korea’s Kospi index lost 0.35% and Japan’s Nikkei was closed for a holiday.

Locally to start the week, the ASX200 posted a 0.14% rise at the closing bell as strong gains for utilities and financial stocks more than offset the 6.84% tumble in tech stocks.

Logistics software solutions provider WiseTech Global was the driver of the tech plummet yesterday as shares in the company dived 20.09% following news that four directors on the company’s board quit over founder Richard White’s ongoing role with the company.

NIB Holdings on the other hand rose 12.5% after the company reaffirmed guidance for FY25 profits between the range of $235 - $250m as it focuses on a return to profitability for its New Zealand business.

And EVT shares posted the greatest gain on the market yesterday with a rise of 12.88% after the property developer and operator posted a strong first half result including profits up 8.3% YoY which beat estimates by 83% driven by the company’s hotel division achieving record earnings during the period.

What to watch today:

• Ahead of Tuesday’s trading session here in Australia the SPI futures are anticipating the ASX will open the day down a sharp 0.76% tracking Wall Street’s sell-off overnight.
• On the commodities front this morning, oil is trading 0.68% higher at US$70.88/barrel, gold is up 0.61% at US$2952/ounce and iron ore is up 0.12% at US$107.13/tonne.
• The Aussie dollar has strengthened against the greenback to buy US$0.63, 95.04 Japanese Yen, 50.03 British Pence and NZ$1.11.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter has downgraded the rating on Domain (ASX:DHG) following the announcement of US property giant CoStar making a $2.7bn takeover bid for the real estate platform. Nine Entertainment Co has a 60% controlling stake in Domain which remains a block for the acquisition, but Bell Potter’s analyst sees the takeover bid as attractive.
• And Trading Central has identified a bullish signal on Rural Funds Group (ASX:RFF) following the formation of a pattern over a period of 33-days which is roughly the same amount of time the share price may rise from the close of $1.79 to the range of $1.88 to $1.90 according to standard principles of technical analysis.