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Wall St closed mixed as US Congress fractures the thought of a government shutdown. The US government has been dominating news headlines recently after a group of Republicans refused to support funding legislation until government agencies impose stricter border provisions, which has seen the US now facing a government shut down. The tech heavy Nasdaq closed Monday’s session 0.67% higher whilst the S&P 500 traded flat and the Dow Jones closed marginally lower. In terms of US stocks, Discover shares finished Monday up nearly 5% with Nvidia and medical device manufacturer Insulet gaining over 3% yesterday.

Over in Europe, markets closed lower on Monday following the STOXX600 ending it’s worst performing quarter of the year. The UK’s FTSE100 retreated 1.28% with the German DAX and French CAC following suit both closing just over 0.90% lower each.

Locally yesterday, markets closed 0.22% lower with the consumer staples and health sectors leading losses. This was however, offset by a 0.64% rise in the utilities sector.

What to watch today:

• The Australian share market is set to open lower, with the SPI futures suggesting a fall of 1.36% at the open this morning.
• In terms of economic data, the RBA will release their interest rate decision today, with economists expecting a hold at 4.1%, the same as September.
• On the commodity front this morning,
  • Oil is down 2.5% to 88 US dollars and 51 cents a barrel following concerns about high borrowing costs that were highlighted by optimistic PMI results.
  • Gold is down 1.11% to 1827 US dollars an ounce, after higher rates in the US reduces the appeal of the precious metal.
  • And iron ore is flat at 119 US dollars and 50 cents following muted construction outlook in China.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter maintains a speculative buy rating on Cyclopharm (ASX:CYC) and his increased its price target from $3.25 to $4.25 with a current share price of $2.83. The speculative buy rating is based off the expectation that there will be strong revenue growth off a modest base over the next three years.
• And Trading Central has identified a bearish signal on Transurban Group (ASX:TCL), indicating that the stock price may fall from the close of $12.67 to the range of $11.70-$11.90 on a pattern formed over 6 days, according to the standard principles of technical analysis.