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European markets closed lower, and US equities made slight gains, after the latest Federal Reserve minutes included discussion to remove some monetary stimulus this year.

This morning the ASX200 is set to open higher, with the futures suggesting a rise of 34 points or 0.46% to 7,409 points.

What to watch today:

• In economic news, yesterday the unemployment rate for July fell to 4.6%, after the market expected unemployment to rise from 4.9% to 5%. This is the lowest unemployment rate since 2008. Also, at 9:05am AEST, the RBA assistant governor Christopher Kent will give a speech to Foreign Exchange markets.

• Cochlear (ASX:COH) is set to release its full year results today. Bell Potter and Citi expect NPAT of $250m.

• The companies set to report earnings today include: Adairs (ASX:ADH), Cleanaway Waste Management (ASX:CWY), Inghams (ASX:ING), Steadfast (ASX:SDF), TPG Telcom (ASX:TPG), and Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD).
• The most traded stocks by Bell Direct and advised clients yesterday were BHP (ASX:BHP), Fortescue Metals (ASX:FMG) and Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN).

• The oil price has dropped more than 4.5%, trading at US$62.50 a barrel.
• The gold price is trading 0.4% lower and copper fell 1.8%. And iron ore is trading 0.5% higher at US$160 a tonne.

Trading ideas:

• Bell Potter maintain their BUY recommendation on Australia and New Zealand Bank (ASX:ANZ), with an increased price target from $30 to $31, after a positive third quarter trading update. ANZ closed 0.4% lower yesterday, implying 8.9% share price growth in a year. However, Citi retain a SELL on ANZ.
• Bullish charting signals have been identified in Uniti Group (ASX:UWL), Volpara Health Technologies (ASX:VHT) and Magnis Energy Technologies (ASX:MNS), according to Trading Central.