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Our local market closed lower yesterday, down 0.9%, snapping its four-day winning streak, with the benchmark ASX200 index on track to finish its worst month since March 2020.

Eight of the eleven industry sectors were in the red, with the real estate sector coming under the most pressure, as many property stocks went ex-dividend yesterday. Meanwhile, financials, consumer staples and the energy sector managed to post small gains.

One of the best performers was Star Entertainment Group (ASX:SGR) after the company appointed Robbie Cooke as its new CEO and Managing Director. This comes after Tyro Payments (ASX:TYR) announced that Mr Cooke would be stepping down from his role as CEO and Managing Director at Tyro, after nearly five years of leadership. Star Entertainment Group lifted 3.3%, while Tyro fell 17%. And one of the worst performers was Carsales.com (ASX:CAR), which fell about 10%, after returning from its trading halt. The business has successfully raised $842m from its institutional entitlement offer to help fund its acquisition of US-based online vehicle marketplace called Trader Interactive.

The most traded stocks by Bell Direct clients yesterday were Fortescue Metals (ASX:FMG), ANZ (ASX:ANZ) and Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (ASX:CLW).

In the US, stocks struggled for direction, after heavy falls in the previous session as investors weighed up fresh signs of a looming economic slowdown. So the market closed mixed. The S&P500 and Nasdaq closed slightly lower, while the Dow Jones finished the day up 0.3%.

What to watch today:

• Following the mixed session in the US, our local market is set to open flat if you go by the SPI futures.
• Moving to commodities, oil prices dipped, snapping its three-day winning streak with tight supply worries not enough to outweigh concerns about a weaker global economy. The WTI Crude oil price currently trades at US$109 a barrel. The gold price fell slightly, trading at US$1,818 an ounce, and the spot iron ore price is trading up 2.5% at US124 a tonne.
• Australian industrial company, CSR (ASX:CSR) is holding its AGM today.
• If you hold KMD Brands (ASX:KMD), Kelly Partners Group (ASX:KPG) or Plato Income Maximiser (ASX:PL8), you will receive your dividend payment today.
• There are a number of ETFs going ex-dividend today, including ETF Securities’ FANG ETF, i.e. Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google, as well as ETF Securities’ ACDC ETF, which offers investors exposure to the EV megatrend.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter has maintained its Speculative Buy rating on Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) with a $2.87 price target. LTR has announced a Final Investment Decision (FID) for its flagship hard-rock lithium project in Western Australia, which Bell Potter believes highlights the LTR team’s strong capability in advancing Kathleen Valley in a market experiencing volatility. The company is also in a strong strategic position in a market for lithium facing supply shortages. At its current share price of $1.12, this implies 156% share price growth in a year.
• Trading Central has a bearish signal on Nine Entertainment (ASX:NEC) indicating that the stock price may fall from the close of $1.90 to the range of $1.56 - $1.62 in the next 8 days according to standard principals of technical analysis.