15th February 2024
Morning Bell - Sam Kanaan
Wall St closed higher overnight, gaining back losses sustained in it’s previous session. The Dow Jones jumped 0.39%, the S&P 500 closed 0.96% higher and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rallied 1.30%.
In terms of US shares Lyft posted better-than-expected results in the fourth quarter which lead to a 36% jump for the ride-hailing company.
Over in Europe, markets closed higher as investors react to the latest earnings reports and inflation data coming out of the UK. The STOXX600 closed half a percent higher, led by tech stocks which added 1% with mining stocks losing half a percent. Germany’s DAX closed 0.38% higher, the French CAC gained 0.68% and over in the UK, the FTSE 100 closed 0.75% higher as UK inflation data held steady at 4% year-on-year in January.
Locally yesterday, markets closed 0.73% lower with the majority of sectors finishing in the red. Losses were led by the information technology and financial sector which lost 1.32% and 1.21% respectively. This was slightly offset by the industrial sector which saw a gain of 0.26% by market close yesterday.
What to watch today:
- The Australian share market is set to open higher, with the SPI futures suggesting a rise of 0.63% at market open this morning.
- In terms of economic data, January unemployment data will be released this morning with a forecast of 4%, up 0.1% from its previous result.
- On the commodities front this morning,
- Oil is trading 1.71% lower at 76 US dollars and 59 cents a barrel, gold is trading 0.06% lower at 1990 US dollars an ounce and iron ore is trading flat at 128 US dollars a tonne.
Trading Ideas:
- Bell Potter maintains a buy rating on Seven Group Holdings (ASX:SVW) and has increased its 12-month price target from $38 to $44.30. The buy rating is maintained following good results in the first half of FY24 and SVW being market leaders in their respective industry, with scale, brand and industry expertise underpinning commercial advantages that are hard to replicate by competitors.
- And Trading Central has identified a bearish signal on Waypoint REIT (ASX:WPR), indicating that the stock price may fall from the close of $2.47 to the range of $2.18-$2.24, on a pattern formed over 18 days, according to the standard principles of technical analysis.