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Wall Street rallied on Tuesday as all eyes focus on the release of US inflation data out at 10:30pm tonight Australian Eastern Standard time while investors also welcomed comments from Federal Reserve officials earlier today suggesting US interest rates may be nearing their peak.

The comments made by officials also weighed in that the new inflation data out tonight will heavily influence the central bank’s next policy move. The Dow Jones rose 0.93%, the S&P500 added 0.67% and the tech heavy Nasdaq lifted 0.55% on Tuesday.

Salesforce shares rose 0.6% after the company said it would increase prices across the board in August, while American video game company Activision Blizzard jumped over 10% after a Federal Judge denied the Federal Trade Commission’s request for a preliminary injunction to stop Microsoft acquiring the video game maker, meaning the two companies are closer to completing their acquisition deal.

In Europe, markets closed higher in the region led by a boost for mining and construction stocks. The STOXX600 finished Tuesday’s session up 0.7%, Germany’s DAX rose 0.75%, the French CAC added 1.07% and, in the UK, the FTSE100 rose 0.12%.

In the UK, wages excluding bonuses grew at their joint-fastest rate on record in the quarter ending May, rising by 7.3% from the prior corresponding period. The country’s tight labour market showed signs of easing as unemployment rose unexpectedly to 4% from 3.8% in the three months to April, while job vacancies continue to fall. The high wage growth though remains a significant concern for the Bank of England in its efforts to bring inflation down in the region.

On the back of weak inflation data being released earlier this week, China signalled more economic support measures are coming through the adoption of more property supportive policies in addition to measures aimed at boosting business confidence, as per reports out of Bloomberg.

Locally, gold and lithium miners advanced yesterday with lithium miners boosted by Patriot Battery Metals (ASX:PMT) soaring over 7% on speculation of the company being a takeover target, while gold rallied on strength in the price of the precious commodity.

The ASX rose 1.5% yesterday with every sector of the ASX closing in positive territory, led by the 2023 favourite sector, information technology, surging 2.41%. The local rally yesterday was spurred on by strength in the US on Monday in addition to the release of positive economic data which boosted investor sentiment.

Westpac consumer confidence data and NAB business confidence data were released yesterday with both coming in on the upside. Westpac consumer confidence rose 2.7% from 0.2% in June in a sign consumers are optimistic about the month ahead, possibly on the back of the rate pause out of the RBA. While, NAB business confidence data for June hit zero, up from -4 in May, indicating business confidence is also rising following months of tougher business conditions.

What to watch today:

• Ahead of the local trading session the SPI futures are anticipating the local index to open the midweek session half a percent higher following the strength in both European and the US markets overnight.
• On the commodities front this morning, oil is trading 2.38% higher at US$74.73/barrel, gold is up 0.33% at US$1931.34/ounce and iron ore is down 4% at US$108/tonne in the wake of weak economic data out of China earlier in the week.
• AU$1.00 is buying US$0.67, 93.73 Japanese Yen, 52.02 British Pence and NZ$1.08.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter has increased the price target on Janus Henderson (ASX:JHG) from $41.29 to $42.64 and maintain a hold rating on the global asset management company ahead of the release of the company’s H1 results on August 1st with Bell Potter expecting to see an uptick in funds under management by around 2.8% to US$319.4bn and expect Janus Henderson to produce Adjusted operating income of US$118.9m up from US$105.6m in Q1. These expected upticks are on the back of stronger US and European markets in Q2 while government bond returns were slightly negative.
• And Trading Central has identified a bullish signal on Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) following the formation of a pattern over a period of 17-days which is roughly the same amount of time the share price may rise from the close of $1.30 to the range of $1.51 to $1.57 according to standard principles of technical analysis.