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• European sharemarkets rose on Monday. The pan-European STOXX 600 index climbed by 0.9%. Basic resources stocks advanced 2.5% on demand optimism after China eased Covid-19 restrictions. The German Dax index gained 1.3% and the commodities heavy UK FTSE index lifted 1% before UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson narrowly survived a confidence vote late on Monday. In London trade, shares of Rio Tinto rose by 3.4% and BHP shares were up 4.3%.
• US sharemarkets rose in a choppy trading session on Monday. Investors assessed prospects for growth in markets rattled by inflation and rate-hike concerns. Amazon.com shares climbed by 2% after implementing a 20-for-1 stock split. But Twitter shares slipped 1.5% after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he might walk away from his buyout offer if the social media company fails to provide data on spam and fake accounts. Stocks rallied early in the trading session with the Dow Jones index up by more than 300 points after Beijing eased Covid-19 restrictions, boosting hopes this would help abate supply-chain pressures. Didi Global shares surged 24.3% on reports that Chinese regulators are set to ease curbs on the ride-hailing giant. The Dow Jones index closed up by 16 points or 0.1%. And the S&P 500 index rose by 0.3% with the Nasdaq index adding 49 points or 0.4%.
• US treasuries fell on Monday (yields higher) as investors prepared for new supply this week and the release of data on Friday, which is expected to show still high US inflation. The US Treasury is scheduled to sell US$96 billion in government debt this week. US 10- year yields rose by around 9 points to near 3.04%. And US 2-year yields lifted by around 6 points to near 2.73%.
• Major currencies were weaker against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro fell from highs near US$1.0750 to lows near US$1.0683 and was near US$1.0695 at the US close. The Aussie dollar eased from highs near US72.30 cents to lows near US71.86 cents and was near US71.90 cents at the US close. And the Japanese yen eased from 130.47 yen per US dollar to JPY132.00 and was near JPY131.85 at the US close.
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• Global oil prices eased on Monday. Oil fluctuated as news that India is in talks to increase Russian crude imports from Rosneft weighed on an earlier rally driven by Saudi Arabia’s bigger thanexpected price increase for deliveries to Asia. The Brent crude price fell by US21 cents or 0.2% to US$119.51 a barrel. And the US Nymex crude price eased by US37 cents or 0.3% to US$118.50 a barrel.
• Base metal prices were mostly higher on Monday. Copper prices climbed 2.6% to five-week highs after the lifting of Covid-19 lockdowns in top consumer China boosted demand prospects, while dwindling inventories provided further support. Nickel led gains, up by 5.6%. But zinc fell by 0.2%.
• The gold futures price fell by US$6.50 or 0.4% to US$1,843.70 an ounce. Spot gold was trading near US$1,842 an ounce at the US close. The iron ore futures price rose by US84 cents or 0.6% to US$145.24 a tonne on optimism over China’s plans to get the economy moving again after sweeping virus lockdowns.
Originally Published by CommSec
