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Our local market rebounded last week, gaining 2% week-to-date. Most sectors gained WTD, apart from industrials and materials. And taking a quick look at Friday’s session, a rebound in commodities boosted Australian shares and the market closed 0.5% higher, with energy and materials in the lead. Australian shares were largely unaffected by the declines in share markets across Asia on Friday afternoon, following reports that the former Japanese Prime Minister was shot during an election speech.

Instead, energy producers and gold miners gained, as well as the tech sector which followed a strong lead by the Nasdaq. The ASX200 was once again led by family app Life360 (ASX:360).

The most traded stocks by Bell Direct clients on Friday were Worley (ASX:WOR), BHP Group (ASX:BHP), Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) and Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN).

European stocks closed with solid gains, ending the week in positive territory. The STOXX 600 closed the day 0.5% higher, with most sectors in the green. Investor focus was on the US employment report for June, which displayed a stronger than expected month of hiring. It was a key piece of data, as the Federal Reserve is closely watching the labour market and inflation figures as it continues to plan its course for monetary policy.

US equities closed mixed. The Dow Jones closed slightly lower, down 0.2%, while the S&P500 closed flat. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq slightly rose 0.1%, its fifth straight day of gains.

What to watch today:

• The Australian market is set to open higher, with the SPI futures suggesting a 0.3% rise at the open this morning.
• Keep watch of Woolworths (ASX:WOW) after Goldman Sachs this morning added the stock to its conviction list, which is a list of stocks they expect to outperform. The broker also reiterated its Buy rating with a price target of $40.50.
• In commodities, oil prices are trading lower, while gold and iron ore are in the green.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter maintain a Speculative Buy rating on Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) with a valuation of $11.10. At its current share price of $4.01, this implies 177% share price growth in a year. Meanwhile, Macquarie have an Outperform rating on the gold miner and have retained their $7.30 price target.
• Trading Central have identified a bullish signal in Allkem (ASX:AKE) indicating that the stock price may rise from the close of $10.46 to the range of $12.70 to $13.20 over 25 days according to the standard principles of technical analysis.