BPO TV

Wall St topped record territory on Friday with the S&P500 and Dow Jones ending the day at fresh record highs in the wake of Trump’s election victory and the Fed cutting interest rates by 25-basis points late last week. The S&P500 rose 0.38% to a fresh record 5,995.54 points, while the Dow Jones rose 0.6% to a fresh record 43,988.99 points and the Nasdaq ended the day up 0.09%.

Despite the rally, investors are concerned about the large federal deficit and increased tariffs sparking fears of an uptick in inflation in the US.

Across European markets on Friday, markets in the region closed lower as investors assessed key corporate results and rate cuts out of the Bank of England and US Fed. The STOXX 600 fell 0.66%, Germany’s DAX fell 0.8%, the French CAC lost 1.17% and, in the UK, the FTSE100 ended the day 0.84%.

Shares in British Airways owner company IAG rose 6% on Friday after reporting a 15% uptick in third-quarter profit which beat analysts’ expectations.

The Asia region closed mixed on Friday after China’s central government announced it would allocation a further 6 trillion yuan too local governments to help tackle debt issues.

Locally on Friday the ASX 200 rallied sharply, ending the day up 0.84% led by a surge in tech stocks while the energy sector was the only sector to end the day in the red. For the week the ASX had its best week since mid-August with a gain of 2.17%. Further stimulus out of China and another rate cut in the US were the drivers of the local rally on Friday.

Leading global geolocation tracking tech provider Life 360 soared to a record high on Friday after UBS raised its price target on the company’s US shares from US$35 to US$50.

Biotech company Neuren soared a further 14% on Friday extending its rally of the last few sessions after reporting strong US sales of its Daybue drug which is used for the treatment of Rett Syndrome.

Elsewhere in the healthcare space, Mayne Pharma rose 14% on Friday after the AFR reported Jefferies Australia has been quietly marketing the company to prospective buyers.

What to watch today:

• Ahead of the first trading session of the new week, the SPI futures are anticipating the ASX to open the day down 0.43%.
• On the commodities front this morning, oil is trading 2.74% lower at US$70.38/barrel, gold is down 0.83% at US$2684/ounce and iron ore is down 1.33% at US$103.82/tonne.
• The Aussie dollar is buying US$0.65, 100.56 Japanese Yen, 50.92 British Pence and NZ$1.10.

Trading Ideas:

• Bell Potter has increased the 12-month price target on REA Group (ASX:REA) from $239 to $258 and maintain a buy rating on the leading online property advertising and service-related tech company following the release of the company’s 1Q 25 trading update including listings growing 7%, group revenue up 21%, and the outlook for double-digit buy yield growth.
• And pre-IPO company Cuscal (ASX:CCL) told the market on Friday that it has excess demand for the shares on offer as part of an IPO with the payment’s infrastructure company preparing for its market debut on November 21 where it hopes to raise $136m with a $437m market value on debut.