Wall St fell overnight as Apple shares declined, pulling technology stocks down. The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 lost just over 1% each with the tech-heavy Nasdaq ending the session 1.65% in the red. Apple lost 3% following the release of a report from Counterpoint Research that showed iPhone sales in China plunged in the first six weeks of 2024. 

Other tech stocks such as Netflix and Microsoft also fell by more than 2% each with Tesla following suit, losing 3%.

Over in Europe, markets closed lower as they struggle to find positive momentum with investors awaiting the ECB meeting later in the week. The STOXX600 ended the day down 0.27% with the majority of sectors closing lower with mining stocks falling 0.9% whilst the utilities sector added 1.8%. Germany’s DAX closed 0.1% lower, the French CAC fell 0.3% and over in the UK the FTSE100 closed 0.08% in the green.

Locally yesterday, the ASX200 fell 0.15% with the consumer discretionary and consumer staples sector leading losses down 1.21% and 1.05% respectively. This was offset by the health sector which gained 1% by the closing bell.

What to watch today: 

• The Australian share market is set to open lower, with the SPI futures suggesting a fall 0.26% at market open this morning.
• In terms of economic news, Australian GDP growth data will be released this morning with a forecast of 0.2% growth quarter on quarter, the same as its previous result.
• On the commodities front this morning,
   
  • Oil is trading 0.65% lower at US$78.23 a barrel as uncertainties surrounding interest rates changes in major economies, add to market uncertainty. 
  • Gold is trading 0.7% higher at US$2129 an ounce and iron ore is trading 1.28% lower at US$116 a tonne. 

Trading Ideas: 

• Bell Potter maintains a buy rating on GrainCorp (ASX:GNC) and has an unchanged 12-month price target of $9.30. The buy rating is maintained by Bell Potter as they continue to view the GrainCorp share price as not reflecting the underlying improvement in through the cycle earnings and GrainCorp has a stronger balance sheet position of $350m in net corporate cash.
• And Trading Central has identified a bearish signal in Australian United Investment (ASX:AUI), indicating that the stock may fall from the close of $9.91 to the range of $9.48-$9.56 on a pattern formed over 8 days according to the standard principles of technical analysis.