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Records were smashed in the U.S. overnight for two key reasons: (1) U.S. factory activity in August saw its biggest expansion since November 2018 and (2) video conferencing company, Zoom, reported a 360% jump in revenue, pushing its shares up 41%. The S&P500 ended 0.7% higher, closing at brand new record, while the Nasdaq soared 1.4% also breaking its prior record.

Commodities:

• Gold lifted by US$2 compared to yesterday, hitting US$1,979
• Oil trades steady at US$42.76 after encouraging manufacturing numbers came through, however U.S. oil supply fell for the sixth week

What to watch today:

1. Aussie share market should see a lift today, futures are suggesting at 0.4% gain
2. China suspends barley imports from CBH, claiming there were pests in a shipment.
3. Economic front: GDP data is out today, showing how much the economy shrank from April to June. Estimates suggest that GDP shrank 6% in the second quarter, which means we will officially enter a recession for the first time in 30 years.
4. The Australian dollar took a breather but holds two-year high territory, 73.74 US cents as the U.S. dollar came back in favour.
5. BHP listed in New York gained 3.1% overnight,  so you’d think the ASX listed BHP could follow.

As for Trading ideas:

• Zip (ASX:Z1P) was downgraded to a sell by Citi, giving it a price target of $6.90. Yesterday Z1P fell 13% to $7.99. However its outperformed the market of late, rising over 35% in the last month. The entry of PayPal increases concerns over the medium-term – in particular, Zip’s acquisition of Quadpay could go head to head with PayPal’s pay in four. Hence Citi downgraded Zip to a sell.
• Aristocrat Leisure (ASX:ALL) was reiterated as a UBS buy, while dropping its target to $29.60. The most upside for Aristocrat comes from online with 35% digital growth expected in the second half of the year.
• Silver Lake Resources (ASX:SLR) has formed a bullish “continuation wedge” chart pattern according to Trading Central’s technical analysis. This indicates SLR shares could rise from yesterday’s close of $2.23 to $2.70 – $2.85 over the next 18 days according to standard principles of technical analysis. Macquarie has a $2.60 price target for SLR.