S&P/ASX 200 set to gain this morning, despite mixed activity on Wall St

The S&P/ASX 200 finished the day as it began yesterday sitting at 7,538.4 and is likely to start on a positive note this morning. A 25 point or 0.3 per cent gain is expected on the ASX this morning.   This is despite Wall St easing away from its all-time highs yesterday.  The S&P 500 fell to 4,432.35, down 4.17 points and the Dow dropped 0.3 per cent to 35,101.85, down 106.66 points. However, the Nasdaq finished 24.42 points or 0.2 per cent higher, to 14,860.18. Part of the downtrend in the US was due to the performance of tech stocks on the S&P 500. Tech was down along with industrial and consumer-centric stocks. Energy stocks also took a hit as the price of US crude oil slipped by 2.6 per cent, following a 7.7 per cent drop last week. Crude oil is now at its lowest levels since May.  Losses in these sectors were outweighed by gains in health care and banks.  Major news out of the US will come on Wednesday when investors get another piece of data on the inflation puzzle. On Wednesday the Labor Department is set to release its consumer price index for July, with Wall Street still trying to gauge how much inflation might rise along with the country’s economic recovery and what that means for the Federal Reserve. In other words, what happens if and when the Fed trims back its support for the economy sooner than expected. Around Asia Stocks rose in China on Monday. This was led by rebounding blue-chips, which offset losses in tech. Signs of slowing economic growth in China could lead to fresh policy easing, which may also have a positive effect on markets.  Hong Kong stocks were also in the green. However, it wasn’t all wine and roses for the Hong Kong market as index heavyweight Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Holding Ltd fell on the back of a sexual assault scandal. The CSI300 index rose 1.2 per cent to 4,980.64 points. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.9 per cent to 3,488.92 points. The Hang Seng index added 0.94 per cent to 26,424.41 points, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index gained 0.98 per cent to 9,364.23. Around Europe European stocks closed slightly higher on Monday. As with most places in the world, investors are keeping a close watch on COVID-19 developments and falling commodity prices. The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended up 0.2 per cent, with healthcare stocks adding 1 per cent. Autos sank 0.6 per cent. Deliveroo was a big winner. It surged 4.5 per cent on Monday after it disclosed that German peer Delivery Hero (ETR:DHER, OTCQX:DLVHF) had now has a 5.09 per cent stake in the company. Other Indices All Ordinaries: Fell 0.03 per cent to 7,804.3 S&P/ASX 100: Rose 0.04 per cent to 6,240.1 S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries: Fell 0.26 per cent to 3,455.7 FTSE 100: Rose 0.13 per cent to 7,132.30 DAX: Fell 0.10 per cent to 6,813.18 CAC 40: Fell 0.06 per cent to 6,813.18. Stocks to watch this week Telstra: Its health investment arm closed a $350 million takeover of clinic management software company MedicalDirector. The move has put Telstra on the radar of Australia’s GP clinics. Transurban: The road operator reported a $3.27 billion statutory full-year profit. This was due to the $3.72 billion sale of a stake in its North American assets in December. Transurban will pay a 21.5 cents final dividend for the six months to June 30, up from 16 cents.  Suncorp: The financial institution announced a $25 million share buyback after lifting its full-year profit by 13% to $1.03 billion. Its final dividend was lifted to 40 cents a share, with a special dividend of 8 cents a share to be paid also.