In New York overnight, the Dow Jones closed 300 points higher or 0.98%, to begin April’s trading. The S&P500 saw its fourth straight day of gains, closing 0.37% in the green, while the Nasdaq closed 0.3% lower. US investors showed resilience despite an oil output cut from OPEC.

Oil prices notched their biggest gain in nearly a year after OPEC announced it was cutting output by more than 1 million barrels per day. The cuts begin in May and run until the end of this year. Saudi Arabia have said that it was a “precautionary measure” targeted toward stabilising the oil market. Oil is current trading 6.28% higher at US$80.42 per barrel. This announcement complicates the outlook for inflation and interest rates, as investors had been betting that easing price pressures would give central banks room to pause the current tightening cycle. So, energy shares will be on watch today; some include Beach Energy (ASX:BPT), Woodside Energy (ASX:WDS) and Santos (ASX:STO). 

Also in commodities, natural gas has hit its lowest level since September 2020, pressured by weak demand due to high temperatures and ample inventories. The price of gold is steady, while iron ore has rebounded on expectations of strong demand as China enters the spring construction season. 

What to watch today:

• The Australian market is set to open just 0.06% higher this morning, if you’re going by the SPI futures. 
• In economic news, the RBA will announce its next cash rate decision. The Commonwealth Bank and Westpac have forecast the RBA will pause hiking the cash rate this month, and hold it at 3.6%, only to increase again in May, while NAB and ANZ predict a further 0.25% hike today. 

Trading Ideas:

• Trading Central have identified a bullish signal in Link Administration (ASX:LNK) indicating that the stock price may rise from the close of $2.13 to the range of $2.51 to $2.59 over 44 days, according to the standard principles of technical analysis.