BPO TV

US equities closed in the red for the third straight day, as mounting fears that the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes will push the economy into a recession. The session put the major averages on pace to close the week with losses. The Dow Jones closed 0.35% lower, the S&P500 down 0.8% and the Nasdaq down 1.4%. Investors have been selling stocks following another rate hike from the Fed on Wednesday night. Bond yields surged again – the yields on the 10-year and 2-year Treasury notes notching fresh multiyear highs, hitting their highest levels since February 2011 and October 2007 respectively. 

 European stocks ended the day lower, after central banks in Switzerland and the UK, announced interest rate hikes. The Bank of England raised interest rates by 50 basis points, its seventh consecutive hike.

What to watch today:

• The Australia market is set to fall 0.26% at the open this morning.
• In commodities, oil is trading higher, recovering from two consecutive sessions of losses, as hopes of higher Chinese demand and geopolitical tensions, more than offset global growth worries. Gold is in the red, sliding back towards the lowest levels in over two years. And iron ore has dropped to its lowest in nearly 10 months. 
• Watch the share price movements today of Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN), which is set to release its earnings results today, and of Suncorp (ASX:SUN), which is set to hold its AGM today. 
• Stocks going ex-dividend today include Vita Life Sciences (ASX:VLS) and Vulcan Steel (ASX:VSL). 

Trading Ideas:

• Citi maintain a Buy rating on building products and services company Brickworks (ASX:BKW). The company’s financials beat market consensus, with underlying profit rising by 159% on last year. While uncertainty is rising in the macro-outlook, Citi note that Brickworks management are confidence of growth with the property business in FY23. BWK’s current share price is $21.69. If BKW meets the Citi price target of $26, it will return approximately 20%.