Yesterday the market closed completely flat, however we did see materials and utilities gain over 1%. An uptick in iron ore, nickel, aluminium and zinc helped boost some mining stocks higher, while tech shares declined. 

Leading the tech losses was EML Payments (ASX:EML), which fell more than 22%, after reporting that its facing some challenges regarding its remediation programme and their dealings with the Central Bank of Ireland. Meanwhile, stocks that gained were Insurance Australia Group (ASX:IAG), Steadfast (ASX:SDF), and Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN). Travel shares also advanced after Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) reported a “solid rebound in travel” and flagged a return to profitability in the next three months. 

The most traded stocks by Bell Direct clients were Treasury Wine Estates (ASX:TWE), Ioupay (ASX:IOU), and News Corporation (ASX:NWS). 

Over in New York, in afternoon trade US shares were lower as investors are trading cautiously ahead of the Fed’s meeting this week, as well as earnings results that are set to be released from a few of the large-cap growth companies. However, the Dow Jones closed 0.3% higher, the S&P 500 slightly rose 0.1%, while the Nasdaq fell 0.4%. Corporate earnings in the US are expected to pick up this week with some major tech names set to report. These include Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon. 

What to watch today:

• The SPI futures are suggesting our market will rise 0.36% or 22 points at the open this morning. 
• In commodities, oil is trading higher after what was three consecutive sessions of losses. The gold price however is trading down, while iron ore prices are up. 
• Today watch the share price movements of Perseus Mining (ASX:PRU) and Regis Resources (ASX:RRL). Both companies are set to release their quarterly production reports today. 

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter maintain their Buy rating on Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN). The company has a growing portfolio of mining services and commodities businesses. Bell Potter have increased their price target on Mineral Resources from $70 to $75, and at its current share price of $46.82, this implies 60.2% share price growth in a year. 

Trading Central have identified a bullish signal in James Hardie Industries (ASX:JHX) indicating that the stock price may rise from the close of $35.34 to the range of $42.25 to $44 over 50 days, according to the standard principles of technical analysis.