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On Friday mining stocks made strong gains, with BHP Group (ASX:BHP) contributing the most, rising over 4%. The energy sector rebounded on Friday, however week-to-date, it was the worst performer as the price of oil declined further.

Allkem (ASX:AKE) closed 8.5% higher, after reporting record pricing ahead of the June quarter. AKE’s gains also boosted other lithium miners, including Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS), Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) and AVZ Minerals (ASX:AVZ).

The most traded stocks by Bell Direct clients on Friday included VAS, the Vanguard Australian Shares ETF, Allkem (ASX:AKE), Core Lithium (ASX:CXO), Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) and Fortescue Metals (ASX:FMG).

European and US equities began the second quarter on a positive note. All three US benchmarks closed higher. The Dow up more than 100 points or 0.4%, the S&P500 up 0.3% and the Nasdaq up 0.3%.

What to watch today:

• The local market is set to rise 0.25% at the open this morning if you’re going by the SPI futures.
• In commodities, the oil price is trading lower as the lockdowns in China have caused demand concern, as well as news that the International Energy Agency have agreed to join the US in the largest release of oil reserves on record. The weekly loss was more than 13%, which was the largest weekly fall in 2-years. The US will release 1 million barrels per day for 6 months, starting in May.
• The gold price is also trading lower, after the US jobs report displayed a tight labour market, provoking expectations for a 50-basis point increase in the Fed funds rate in May, to tame inflation.
• Seaborne iron ore has jumped, trading 6% higher, just under US$160 a tonne, as iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange were higher.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter maintain their BUY rating on Perpetual (ASX:PPT) and have lowered their price target on PPT from $44.30 to $42.80. PPT last closed at $34.23, implying 25% share price growth in a year. And Bell Potter see 30.3% upside over the next year, including the 5.3% yield.
• Trading Central have identified a bullish signal in Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS), indicating that the stock price may rise from the close of $3.43 to the range of $3.90 to $4.05, over 29 days, according to the standard principles of technical analysis.