Yesterday, the ASX200 lost 56 points or 0.8% to close at 7,261 points. Aussie investors digested the latest inflation reading, which came in at 5.1%, that’s the highest reading since the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) in the early 2000s. The jump in consumer prices reflected soaring fuel prices as well as surging building costs. The higher than expected increase has compelled economists to bring forward their expectation for the RBA’s imminent interest rate rise, from June to next Tuesday’s meeting.

Moving to the sector performances, the majority of the market closed in the red, with the tech sector down the most, taking a strong lead from the Nasdaq’s big tech sell off. Looking at the ASX200 leaderboard, Life360 (ASX:360) took a bit of a tumble, falling 29% after the tech platform abandoned its plans to list in the US. Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) was the best performer, benefiting from the rising coal price.    

The most traded stocks by Bell Direct clients yesterday were Syrah Resources (ASX:SYR), Mount Gibson Iron (ASX:MGX) and Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ).

Moving to the US, the three benchmarks struggled to find direction, with the market closing mostly higher. Both the Dow and S&P500 closed about 0.2% higher, while the Nasdaq closed flat at its 2022 low of 12,489 points. In terms of company results, Microsoft and Visa jumped higher after strong earnings reports. While, Alphabet and Boeing posted losses after their results missed consensus estimates.

What to watch today:

• The Aussie share market is set to open 0.7% higher this morning, going by the SPI futures.  
• Medical device company, Cochlear (ASX:COH) will be on watch today, following news that it has agreed to pay $170m to acquire Oticon Medical. Keep in mind that while this acquisition is expected to add anywhere from $75m to $80m to annual revenue, the company is currently loss making. 
• Watch Coles Group (ASX:COL) today, as it’s set to release its quarterly results today. 
• Economic news wise, investors will digest the latest import and export prices for quarter one.
• In commodities, the oil price treaded between gains and losses as the US dollar soared, while the gold price fell to a two-month low. And the spot iron ore price is trading flat at US$137 a tonne.
• Scaffold and formwork supplier, Acrow Formwork and Construction Services (ASX:ACF) is set to go ex-dividend today. 

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter have maintained its BUY rating on Australian agricultural chemical company, Nufarm (ASX:NUF) and have increased its price target from $6.40 to $7.85. At its current share price of $6.59, this implies 20% share price growth in a year.
• Trading Central has a bullish signal on BNPL company, Splitit Payments (ASX:SPT) indicating that the stock price may rise from the close of $0.21 to the range of $0.24 - $0.26 in the next 40 days according to standard principals of technical analysis.