Due to the Labour Day holiday over in the US, markets were closed in the region, however over in Europe, markets ended the day flat to start September. The STOXX600 closed 0.04% lower, with losses led by retail stocks which dropped 0.77%, whilst telecoms stocks added 0.78%. Germany’s DAX added 0.13%, the French CAC gained 0.2% and over in the UK the FTSE100 fell 0.15%.

Locally yesterday, the ASX200 rose 0.22% by market close yesterday. Gains were led by the financial and energy sectors which gained 1.14% and 1.1% respectively. This was offset by the materials sector which fell 1.11% by end of trade on Monday.

What to watch today:

• The Australian share market is set to open slightly higher, with the SPI futures predicting a rise of 0.05% at market open this morning.
• On the commodities front this morning,
   
  • Oil is trading 0.7% higher at 74 US dollars and 6 cents a barrel, gold is trading 0.13% lower at 2499 US dollars an ounce and iron ore is trading 0.07% higher at 98 US dollars and 60 cents a tonne.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter maintains a buy rating on Resource Development Group (ASX:RDG) and has a 12-month price target of $0.034. The buy rating is maintained by Bell Potter following the release of FY24 results in which RDG reported a revenue of $136m, up 145% year-on-year and an underlying EBITDA of $28.4m which was up 53% year-on-year. As well as this, RDG continues to focus on implementing modifications and upgrade works to the Lucky Bay plant to achieve nameplate capacity, with an upgraded New Constant Density tank commissioned during July 2024, yielding improved plant stability and greater heavy mineral recovery and production. An expanded attritioning circuit was also installed which will improve product quality, hence the buy rating is maintained.
• Trading Central has identified a bullish signal in Elders Ltd (ASX:ELD), indicating that the stock price may rise from the close of $9.37 to the range of $10.05-$10.20, on a pattern formed over 22 days, according to the standard principles of technical analysis.