Wall St closed higher overnight with the S&P 500 on the verge of reaching the 5,000 level for the first time ever. The Dow Jones rallied 0.13%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq saw a rise of 0.24% and the S&P 500 saw an increase of 0.06%. 

In terms of US stocks, Disney rallied 11% after beating quarterly earnings estimates and raising its guidance.

Over in Europe, markets closed mixed as investors react to earnings. The STOXX600 closed flat with gains lead by household goods up 1.9% and losses spearheaded by health-care stocks which fell 1.9%. Germany’s DAX closed 0.25% higher, the French CAC also gained 0.71% but over in the UK, the FTSE100 fell 0.44%.

In Asia yesterday, China’s inflation rate came in at a decline of 0.8%, which is double what the forecast was and indicated the economy continues to struggle on the economic growth front, post pandemic.

Locally yesterday, markets closed 0.31% higher, led by the information technology sector which saw a rise of 1.18%. This was offset by the energy sector which lost just over half a percent by market close.

What to watch today:

• The Australian share market is set to open slightly lower, with the SPI futures suggesting a fall of 0.05% at market open this morning.
• On the commodities front this morning,
   
  • Oil is trading up 3.64% to US$76.55 a barrel following Israel’s decision to reject a ceasefire proposal and a decline of 3.15 million barrels in US gasoline inventories last week. 
  • Gold is trading 0.05% lower to US$2033 an ounce and iron ore retreated 0.39% to US$128 a tonne.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter maintains a buy rating on Cettire (ASX:CTT) and has increased its 12-month price target to $4.80. The buy rating is maintained by Bell Potter following the release of positive results in the first half of 2024 which saw sales revenue of $354m and an adjusted EBITDA of $26m.
• And Trading Central has identified a bullish signal on Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS), indicating that the stock price may rise form the close of $3.62 to the range of $4.40-$4.55, on a pattern formed over 46 days, according to the standard principles of technical analysis.