US equities saw its second day of gains. The Dow Jones gained more than 400 points or 1.3%. The S&P500 gained 1.2% and the Nasdaq closed 0.9% higher. Traders are also awaiting the earnings results of four of the biggest tech companies. Results for Alphabet and Microsoft are out tonight, and Apple and Amazon are due Thursday.

European markets also closed in the green, following the announcement that Rishi Sunak is the new UK prime minister. 

What to watch today:

• Our local market is set to open higher. The SPI futures are suggesting a 0.4% rise at the open this morning. 
• In economic data, the government will be handing down the Federal Budget tonight. This of course will be on watch, however it is unlikely to move markets. What is more pressing on markets is the inflation report, which is set to be released tomorrow. And this is a key piece of data ahead of the RBA’s next meeting on Tuesday. 
• Looking at commodities, 
  • Oil is trading lower as worries about a deteriorating growth outlook continue. Also, Chinese customs data showed that demand from the world’s largest crude importer remained subdued in September, as covid-induced restrictions and fuel export curbs, supressed consumption. 
  • The price of gold has dropped, while iron ore has slowly started to regain earlier losses. 
• The following companies are set to release a quarterly report today, so keep watch of their share price movements. These include Ampol (ASX:ALD), Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN), Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) and Reliance Worldwide Corporation (ASX:RWC). 

The Australian dollar has dropped, currently buying 63 US cents, 56.58 British Pence, 94 Japanese Yen and 1 dollar and 10 cents New Zealand. 

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter maintains a Speculative BUY rating on Clean Seas Seafood (ASX:CSS) with a price target of $0.85. At its current share price of $0.55, this implies 54.5% share price growth in a year. 
• Trading Central have identified a bullish signal in Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC) indicating that the stock price may rise from the close of $7.86 to the range of $8.55 to $8.75 over 25 days, according to the standard principles of technical analysis.