Yesterday the ASX was closed for the Australia Day Public Holiday. On Tuesday however, Australian shares tumbled and the ASX200 closed 2.5% or 177.9 points lower. This was the second biggest sell-off this year, with an inflationary shock as CPI came in ahead of consensus and fears about higher interest rates, as well as the invasion of Ukraine. All sectors were in the red, with energy declining the most. 

The best performer was Codan (ASX:CDA), a manufacturer and supplier communications equipment. Its share price advanced 16.9% after reporting a record first-half result. Revenue increased 32% and net profit increased 21%. 

Meanwhile, miners Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) and Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) were the worst performers on Tuesday. 

The most traded stocks by Bell Direct clients on Tuesday included major banks National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX:ANZ) and Westpac (ASX:WBC). Followed by CSL and Telstra (ASX:TLS). 

European stocks closed higher as investors waited for the latest monetary policy announcement from the US Federal Reserve. However, US equities fell in a volatile session after the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said there is “quite a bit of room” to raise interest rates before it would harm the economy. Traders took the comments to mean the central bank may be aggressive in tightening policy, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield climbed over 1.8%. 

The Fed has now signalled that it could start raising interest rates in March. The central bank said in a statement that “with inflation well above 2% and a strong labor market, the Committee expects it will soon be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate.” 

Following Wall Street, the SPI futures are suggesting the local market will fall 0.3% at the open. 

What to watch today:

• The oil price extended gains, trading above US$87 a barrel on Wednesday, the highest since October 2014. Investors remain concerned about supply and the possibility of energy disruptions if Russia is to invade Ukraine. 
• The price of gold has tumbled, trading below US$1,820 an ounce, amid a stronger dollar after Powell’s comments. 
• The seaborne iron ore price is trading above US$129 a tonne. 
• In economic data, on Tuesday Australia’s consumer price index for the December quarter surged 3.5% year-on-year, ahead of consensus and the RBA’s own forecasts. And today, import and export prices will be released at 10:30am AEDT. 

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter maintain their BUY rating on Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX:ANZ), and have increased their price target from $30 to $31. ANZ last closed at $26.77, implying 11.6% share price growth in a year. 
• Trading Central have identified a bullish charting signal in COG Financial Services (ASX:COG), indicating that the price may rise from the close of $1.45 to the range of $1.73 to $1.79. The pattern formed over 147 days which is roughly the period of time in which the target price range may be achieved, according to standard principles of technical analysis.