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The major mining stocks lead the market’s losses yesterday and the market lost 1%, following a fall in commodity prices and doubts about Chinese growth, in its push to achieve its zero COVID strategy. Shanghai’s lockdown has been reinstated with some stricter rules, including the ban of food delivery services. Locally, materials, energy and utilities were down the most yesterday.

Looking at the ASX200 leaderboard, insurance company AUB Group (ASX:AUB) declined the most yesterday after news that the company is set to acquire UK insurance broker Tysers for $880 million. And with the fall in commodities, mining stocks fell, including Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN), Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN), Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO), De Grey Mining (ASX:DEG) and Newcrest Mining (ASX:NCM) to name a few. Pendal (ASX:PDL) surged more than 8% after reporting underlying earnings 22% above market consensus, and PolyNovo (ASX:PNV) gained 16% amid news of more insider buying.

The most traded stocks by Bell Direct clients yesterday included Lake Resources (ASX:LKE), Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG), BHP Group (ASX:BHP), Westpac (ASX:WBC) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO).

In US equities, the major benchmarks closed mixed ahead of the release of the US inflation reading. Tonight, April’s consumer price index will be announced in the US, expected to rise 0.2% from the month prior and 8.1% year over year, according to the Dow Jones consensus estimate. The Dow Jones fell for the fourth consecutive day, down about 35 points, while the S&P500 edged 0.25% higher. The Nasdaq gained 1%, with a rebound in some mega-cap technology stocks leading the gains, including Microsoft and Apple which gained 1% each. 

What to watch today:

• The Australian market is set to slightly fall at the open this morning, with the SPI futures suggesting a drop of 0.1%, after a mixed night in the US.
• Follow price movements of technology stocks today. Tech stocks crashed in the Chinese market, however performed well over in the US. A trading idea to consider is Technology One (ASX:TNE), which Bell Potter have retained their Buy rating on, with a lower price target of $12.50 from $14. On the 24th of May, TNE will report its half-year earnings, and Bell Potter expect TNE to report recurring revenue growth of 38%.
• Watch lithium developer AVZ Minerals (ASX:AVZ), which is due to return from a trading halt this morning.
• In commodities, oil prices have fallen again, trading 3.5% lower. Gold also remains under pressure from a strong US dollar. And seaborne iron ore is over 1% lower.
• In economic data, Westpac’s consumer confidence index for May will be released today. This will give us an indication of how consumers are feeling this month. Last month, consumer sentiment fell by 0.9%, and is expected to fall 1% this month.
• Other companies reporting their earnings today are CSR Limited (ASX:CSR) and GrainCorp (ASX:GNC).
• GPT Group (ASX:GPT), Smart Group Corporation (ASX:SIQ) and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (ASX:URW) will hold their AGMs today.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter maintain their BUY rating on Coronado Global Resources (ASX:CRN), and expect the company to generate strong free cash flow on their met coal price outlook. The price target has been lowered to $2.50, and CRN’s last share price was $2.17, implying 15.2% share price growth in a year.
• Trading Central have identified a bullish signal in Sezzle (ASX:SZL), indicating that the stock price may rise from the close of $0.85 to the range of $1.01 to $1.05, over 21 days according to the standard principles of technical analysis.