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The US markets closed mixed on Wednesday with the Dow Jones industrials index adding 0.05%, while the S&P500 fell almost three quarters of a percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled more than 2%, weighed down by Alphabet. Google parent company Alphabet had its worse session since 2020 yesterday after the tech giant released third quarter earnings on Tuesday that missed analysts’ expectations on both top and bottom lines. Investor sentiment was hit again on Wednesday after the earnings report out of Alphabet missed expectations which bucks the trend in recent days of strong company earnings reports for the third quarter, while Microsoft highlighted the impact the Fed and consequently the surging dollar had on the economy. Sentiment was briefly boosted early in the session by the Bank of Canada releasing a lower-than-expected rate hike for October amid fears of a recession, but that wore off in afternoon trade as investors don’t necessarily see that move as a sign the Fed’s will follow suit. 

 Over in Europe, markets closed higher amid strong earnings reports out of some European companies including Deutsche Bank and Mercedes Benz. Germany’s DAX closed the midweek session up 1.09% while the French CAC rallied 0.41%. The European Central Bank will also meet on Thursday where it is widely expected to raise the region’s cash rate by 75-basis points. The UK’s FTSE100 also rallied, adding 0.61% on Wednesday.

 What to watch today:

• Stocks going ex-dividend today include Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) and Tribune Resources (ASX:TBR). If you’ve been considering these stocks it might be worth buying in today as stocks going ex-dividend generally trade lower on the ex-dividend date.
• On the commodities front, brent crude oil is trading 2.38% higher at US$95.75 per barrel, gold is up 0.7% at US$1664.07 per ounce and iron ore is down almost 1.6% to US$94 per tonne.
• The Aussie dollar has strengthened to buy 64.93 U.S. cents, 95.01 Japanese Yen, 56.37 British Pence and 1 New Zealand dollar and 11 cents.
• The SPI futures are expecting the ASX to open 0.38% higher.

 Trading Ideas: 

• Trading Central has identified a bullish signal on Flight Centre Travel Group (ASX:FLT) following the formation of a pattern over a period of 23-days which is roughly the same amount of time the share price may rise from the close of $15.85 to the range of $17-$17.30 according to standard principles of technical analysis.
• Trading Central has also identified a bearish signal on BlueScope Steel (ASX:BSL) following the formation of a pattern over a period of 95-days which is roughly the same amount of time the share price may fall from the close of $15.70 to the range of $12.30-$13.00 according to standard principles of technical analysis.