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With the US election voting happening now, the markets responded with a rally on Wall St on Tuesday as the outcome of the election is expected to be tight between Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. The S&P500 rose 1.23% on Tuesday, while the Nasdaq added 1.43% and the Dow Jones ended the day up 1.02%.

Based on historical data, the major averages tend to rally between Election Day and the end of the year, but investors should brace for some choppiness especially if there is uncertainty over the outcome of the election.

Over in Europe overnight, markets closed mostly higher as global markets await the outcome of the US election. The STOXX 600 rose 0.06% led by industrials stocks rallying 1.2%, while Germany’s DAX added 0.6%, the French CAC rose 0.5% and, in the UK, the FTSE100 ended the day down 0.14%.

In Asia on Tuesday markets closed mixed ahead of the outcome of the US election and on the back of the RBA holdings rates on Tuesday in Australia. Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.43% while South Korea’s Kospi Index fell 0.47%, and China’s CSI index rose 2.29% after China’s services sector in October grew at its fastest rate in three months climbing to 52 points in October from 50.3 points in September.

The ASX had a light day of trading yesterday due to the Melbourne Cup, but markets still closed lower by 0.4% as investors responded to the RBA holding the nation’s cash rate at 4.35% for the period ahead. RBA Governor Michele Bullock signalled the RBA is not comfortable enough to say inflation is sustainably in the target band and more data is needed to convince the central bank that the recent ease of inflation is not just temporary.

There was a lot of movement stock specific wise yesterday with Domino’s Pizza falling 6.3% after the company’s Chief Executive Don Meji announced he will be exiting the company after 22-years leading the Pizza giant. The announcement came amid weak sales outlined in the latest trading update.

Mineral Resources shares recovered 4.1% yesterday, a day after news hit that the mining giant’s founder Chris Ellison would step down in the next 18-months after board found he was allegedly using company resources for personal business.
And emerging copper-gold miner Firefly Metals rallied 1.6% yesterday after RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage on the company with an outperform rating.

What to watch today:

• Ahead of the midweek trading session the SPI futures are anticipating the ASX to open the day up 0.75% on the back of Wall Street’s rally.
• On the commodities front this morning, oil is trading 1.05% higher at US$72.22/barrel, gold is up 0.22% at US$2741/ounce and iron ore is up 1.4% at US$103.91/tonne.
• The Aussie dollar is buying US$0.66, 100.65 Japanese Yen, 50.85 British Pence and NZ$1.11 cents.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter has reduced the 12-month price target on Talga Group (ASX:TLG) from $2.35 to $1.90 and maintain a speculative buy rating on the battery materials and technology company after the company received a positive update in relation to its Natura 2000 environmental permit for its Nunasvaara natural graphite project in Sweden. The permit issued by the Mining Inspectorate of Sweden provides Talga the rights to conduct mining activities over a period of 25-yeas with options for extension. With this in mind, Bell Potter’s analyst now adjusted the timeline to production allowing for construction commencing in Q3, 2025 and first production in CY27. The reduction in price target is due to adjustments on timing and dilution expectations heading into production.
• And Trading Central has identified a bearish signal on Aussie Broadband (ASX:ABB) following the formation of a pattern over a period of 32-days which is roughly the same amount of time the share price may fall from the close of $3.63 to the range of $3.22 to $3.30 according to standard principles of technical analysis.