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Yesterday, the ASX200 lifted 0.6% despite mixed employment figures. The unemployment rate fell to a 12-year low of 4.5% in August, from 4.6% in July. The drop is believed to be attributed to the participation rate falling 2.4% as Australians gave up looking for work during lockdown and therefore weren’t counted as unemployed.

In the US, the market was mixed. We saw the Dow Jones & S&P500 down about 0.2%, while the Nasdaq was able to gain 0.1%. US investors digested mixed economic readings released on Thursday. August retail sales exceeded the market’s expectations and rose 0.7% from the month prior. Meanwhile, first-time jobless claims last week came in at 332,000, which was higher than the forecasted 320,000.

Following a mixed session overnight in the US, the Aussie share market is set to fall 0.24% if you go by the futures.

What to watch today:

• Australia’s new partnership with the US and UK will continue to be in focus today as countries and individuals voice their opinion on this strategic alliance. And the uranium price is now trading at a 9-year high, after lifting 8% to US$48.55. In the last month, the uranium price has lifted a huge 60% and yesterday, some ASX uranium stocks made big gains, including Deep Yellow (ASX:DYL), up 8% and 92 Energy, up nearly 9%.
• Companies going ex-dividend today include Carsales.com (ASX:CAR) and National Tyre & Wheel (ASX:NTD).
• The most traded stocks by Bell Direct clients yesterday, included Fortescue Metals (ASX:FMG). Its share price continued to come under pressure, falling 3.2% yesterday, as Chinese steel cuts speed up. Local lithium player, Ioneer (ASX:INR) was another highly traded stock at Bell Direct. INR shares fell 18% yesterday after the company announced a new joint venture with a multinational precious metal miner Sibanye Stillwater, with INR raising additional funds at a 70% higher price than when it undertook a capital raising via a placement in March. This further supports how red hot the lithium market is.
• The oil price remained steady after hitting that 7-week high yesterday. This comes as the threat to US Gulf crude production from Hurricane Nicholas receded. The gold price fell 2.2% driven by a rise in the US dollar, while the iron ore price continued to plunge, falling 3.4% to about US$120 a tonne.

Trading ideas:

• Bell Potter has maintained its BUY recommendation on death care servicer Propel Funeral Partners (ASX:PFP) and has increased its price target by 9% to $4.65 (previously $4.25). PFP fell about 1% yesterday to $4.05, which implies about 15% share price growth.
• Bullish charting signals have been identified in Elixir Energy (ASX:EXR), James Hardie Industries (ASX:JHX) and Technology Metals Australia (ASX:TMT) according to Trading Central.