BPO TV

In the US, all 3 major indexes snapped their winning streaks with overnight slides. The Dow Jones fell 0.2%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.4%, and the tech heavy Nasdaq was hit the hardest, closing down 0.7% , largely spurred by Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stocks losing steam. 

In Europe overnight, markets closed mixed on Tuesday as government shake ups weighed on key areas of the market, while a materials rally offset some weakness. The STOXX 600 lost 0.15% on Tuesday while Germany’s DAX added 0.03%, the French CAC climbed 0.04% and, in the UK, the FTSE100 ended the day up 0.05%.  

Across the Asia region on Tuesday, markets closed mixed in the region as chip-stocks saw volatility while Japanese government bonds rose to all-time highs. Japan’s Nikkei closed flat on Tuesday, and India’s Nifty 50 rose 0.12% while Hong Kong, China and South Korean markets were all closed for a holiday. 

The local market started the new trading week lower amid with a 0.27% decline on Tuesday amid lower trading volumes and a broad sell-off amongst the market. 

Gold miners offset some of the losses again yesterday with the price of the precious commodity once again soaring to new heights amid looming US interest rate cuts and the prospect of a prolonged US government shutdown driving demand for the safe-haven commodity. 

Australian Westpac Consumer Confidence data for October came in at a sharp decline of -3.5%, starkly different to the forecast rise of 3.1% as family finances weaken and economic uncertainty remains a concern. This weighed on the consumer discretionary sector yesterday as investors see falling consumer confidence as a sign of lower discretionary spend to come.

Web Travel (ASX:WEB) shares jumped over 2.5% after the hotel B2B organisation spun out of WebJet Group announced it was on track to deliver record EBITDA for FY26, while Brisbane Broncos (ASX:BBL)shares fell 12.8% a day after climbing over 20% as investors took some profits from the winning NRL team’s record close on Monday. 

What to watch today:

• On the commodities front this morning, oil is trading 0.24% lower at US$61.54/barrel, gold is up 0.63% at US$3987/ounce and iron ore is down 0.25% at US$104.22/tonne.
• Ahead of the midweek trading session the SPI futures are anticipating the ASX will open the day down 0.04%. 

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter have maintained their buy rating on biotechnology company Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) and raised the price target to $4 per share, after recent developments that its flagship drug Ryoncil has received a brand new J-Code in the US, allowing hospitals broader access to reimbursement when ordering the drug, and therefore increased projected revenue for Mesoblast. 
• Trading Central have identified a bullish signal in QBE Insurance Group (ASX:QBE), indicating that the share price may rise from the close of $21.20 per share, to the range of $22.30 to $22.60 according to the standard principles of technical analysis.