US equities closed mixed overnight after the Federal Reserve kept rates on hold at 5.25% – 5.5% and ruled out that the central bank’s next move could be a hike. While the Dow Jones closed higher off the back of the Fed’s announcement, the broader market finished lower after a volatile trading session. During the session the S&P500 was up 1.2% before closing 0.34% lower, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq had climbed 1.7% before closing 0.33% lower.

What to watch today:

The Australian market is set to open 0.07% lower this morning, following heavy losses yesterday across all industry sectors. The ASX200 closed yesterday’s trading session down 1.23%, with energy and materials weighing down on the market the most.

The market will also be watching NAB’s share price today. The bank released its half-year results this morning and announced it will buy back up to $1.5 billion of its own stock as profit at the lender came in line with expectations. Cash earnings declined 13% to $3.55 billion in the six-month period ending March 31.

Also today, continue to watch Qantas shares following a data breach on the airline’s app yesterday. Qantas passengers were seeing details of other customers on their app, including the name, flight details and loyalty points. QAN declined 1.2% yesterday.

Also watch Woolworths (ASX:WOW) after the supermarket sold down its stake in Endeavour (ASX:EDV). Woolworths may see an uptick today after closing in the red yesterday, after announcing the $468 million Endeavour sell down, which offset a broad market sell-off. Endeavour Groups (ASX:EDV) share price is looking bullish today, so keep watch of Endeavour as well.

The market will also be watching NAB’s share price today when the bank releases its half-year results. Goldman Sachs are expecting the bank to declare an 81cps full franked interim dividend, down 2.4% on last year’s interim dividend.

In commodities,

• Oil is trading more than 3.4% lower at US$79 per barrel, the lowest price in over a month as a rebound in US crude stockpiles supported supply of a ceasefire in the Middle East.
• Gold is trading higher, advancing more than 1.3% to $2,321 per ounce, but remaining near the low levels seen about a month ago, as US traders digest the latest Fed meeting.
• And iron ore is steady at US$110 per tonne.

And in economic news, balance of trade data for March will be released at 12:30pm today.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter maintains their Buy rating on Aeris Resources (ASX:AIS), after the multi-mine copper-gold production and exploration company released its March quarterly report. Bell Potter have increased their 12-month price target from $0.23 to $0.30, and at the current stock price of $0.25, this implies 17.6% share price growth in a year.
• And Trading Central have identified a bearish signal in Sigma Healthcare (ASX:SIG) indicating that the stock price may fall from the close of $1.25 to the range of $1.08 - $1.12 over 35 days, according to the standard principles of technical analysis.

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