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Trading was positive on Wall Street overnight, as US equities closed higher, in a shortened session, that marked the start of a new trading month, quarter and half. US markets closed early ahead of the Fourth of July holiday, and they will be closed tonight as well.  The Nasdaq advanced the most, while the Dow Jones and the S&P500 closed just slightly in the green. In fact, at the end of last week, the Nasdaq closed out its biggest first-half gain since 1983, advancing 31.7%.

What to watch today:

• The Australian share market is set to open flat this morning, according to the SPI futures, as local investors wait to see if RBA policymakers, meet expectations today at their July meeting.
• The market is expecting the RBA to pause their rate rising cycle this month and hold the cash rate at 4.35%. The decision will be announced at 2:30pm today AEST.
• In commodities,
  • Crude oil is trading lower at US$70 per barrel, after Saudi Arabia announced it would extend its voluntary cut of one million barrels per day for August and could prolong further. They will produce approximately 9 million barrels a day, which will be their lowest in several years.
  • The gold price is also in the red as investors continue to assess the path for the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy.
  • And iron ore is lower, trading at US$113.50 per tonne, as investors are still waiting on any announcements from the Chinese government on stimulus measures for the construction sector, which struggled through pandemic lockdowns.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter maintains a Buy rating on Eagers Automotive (ASX:APE), after announcing it has increased its interest in EV Dealer Group. Bell Potter have lowered their price target to $15.00, and at APE’s current share price of $13.83, this implies 9.5% share price growth in a year.
• And Trading Central have identified a bullish signal in Ansell (ASX:ANN) indicating that the stock price may rise from the close of $27.14 to the range of $28.10 to $28.40 over 16 days, according to the standard principles of technical analysis.