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It was a strong session overnight after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell signalled that the pace of rate rises will slow as soon as this month. The Dow Jones jumped 535 points or 1.6%. The S&P500 added 2.4% and the Nasdaq jumped 3.6%, while the 10-year Treasury yield slightly eased. The Fed also cautioned that they may still stay with restrictive policy, with a long way to go in restoring price stability.

Wrapping up the month, the Dow and the S&P500 are up more than 4%, and the Nasdaq up around 3%.

European markets closed higher, as regional investors reacted to the latest inflation data. Eurozone inflation dropped by more than expected in November, fuelling market hopes that record-high price growth has peaked, and the European Central Bank will begin slowing its interest rate hikes next month. The major benchmarks were all in the green, with the Stoxx 600 up 0.6%, Germany’s DAX up 0.3%, France’s CAC up 1.04% and the FTSE 100 up 0.8%.

Asia-Pacific shares were mostly higher even after data for China’s factory activity fell short of expectations, dropping to the lowest reading since April.

What to watch today:

• Our local market is set to open higher, with the SPI futures suggesting a rise of 0.73% this morning.
• In economic data, the S&P Global Manufacturing final PMI for November will be released a 9am AEDT this morning. Remember a PMI above 50 represents an expansion from the month prior. The degree to which the reading is above 50 reflects how fast the manufacturing sector is expanding.
• Looking at commodities,
  • Oil has rallied, trading 3.2% higher at US$80.70 per barrel, supported by larger-than-expected crude inventories.
  • Gold has jumped 1.2% higher, closing in on its highest level in two weeks, on expectations of a smaller rate hike by the Fed in December. Markets are now expecting a 50-basis point hike, after the Fed delivered four straight 75 basis point increases.
  • Iron ore is trading 2.5% higher at US$103 per tonne, the highest since mid-September, while seaborne iron ore is also trading just under 1% higher.
  • Nickel is trading almost 5% higher. The London Metals Exchange stepped up market surveillance activity in response to a rally that saw Nickel surge by 40% to a six-month high of around US$30,000 in just two weeks. The sharp price swing raised concerns about a liquidity crisis. Nickel is currently trading at US$26,744 per tonne.
  • Aluminium has also gained, up 4%.
• Watch BHP Group (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) today, after the mining giants both posted gains on the New York Stock Exchange overnight. ASX-listed BHP and RIO may follow lead.
• Stocks set to go ex-dividend today are Pendal (ASX:PDL) and TechnologyOne (ASX:TNE). Remember this often sees shares fall as investors take their profits.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter maintains their Buy rating on Life360 (ASX:360) and their price target of $9, which is expected to return 49%. The next potential catalyst they see for 360, is the release of the 2022 results in March next year. Preliminary results will be released in February, where they expect the guidance to be met.
• And Trading Central have identified a bullish signal in DevEx Resources (ASX:DEV) indicating that the stock price may rise from the close of $0.33 to the range of $0.38 to $0.40 over 30 days, according to the standard principles of technical analysis.