In US economic data, wholesale inventories rose by 0.6% in July (survey: +0.8%).

European sharemarkets climbed on Friday. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose by 1.5% with mining stocks up 3% as prices of industrial metals rose. The index lifted 1.1% over the week. The German Dax index gained 1.4% on Friday and the UK FTSE index lifted 1.2%. The Bank of England said it would postpone its September Monetary Policy Committee meeting by one week following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. In London trade, shares in Rio Tinto (+2.8%) and BHP (+4.5%) both advanced.

US sharemarkets rallied on Friday as investors shrugged-off hawkish remarks from US Federal Reserve officials and concerns about the economic outlook. Shares of Kroger jumped 7.4% after the grocer raised its annual forecast. Electronic agreements company DocuSign (+10.5%) reported an earnings beat. At the close of trade, the Dow Jones index rose by 377 points or 1.2%. The S&P 500 index
gained 1.5% and the Nasdaq index added 250 points or 2.1%. For the week, the Dow advanced 2.7%, the S&P 500 climbed 3.6% and the Nasdaq gained 4.1%. All three major averages snapped a threeweek losing streak.

US treasuries were weaker on Friday (yields higher) after US Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said that he supports a “significant increase” in the Fed’s target policy rate at this month’s meeting. US 10-year yields rose by 2 points to 3.315% and US 2-year yields lifted 7 points to 14-year highs of 3.56%. For the week, US 10- year yields rose by 12 points with US 2-year yields up 16 points.

Major currencies were mostly stronger against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro fell from highs near US$1.0109 to lows near US$1.0031 and was near US$1.0085 at the US close. But the Aussie dollar rose from lows near US68.20 cents to highs near US68.75 cents and was near US68.45 cents at the US close. And the Japanese yen firmed from near 143.13 yen per US dollar to JPY141.51 and was near JPY142.50 at the US close.

 

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Global oil prices rose by 4% on Friday, supported by a softer US dollar and Russian threats to halt oil and gas exports. The Brent crude oil price rose by US$3.69 or 4.1% to US$92.84 a barrel. And
the US Nymex crude oil price lifted by US$3.25 or 3.9% to US$86.79 a barrel. Over the week, Brent fell by US18 cents or 0.2% and the US Nymex dipped US8 cents or 0.1%.

Base metals were mostly higher on Friday as a weaker US dollar and concerns over supply constraints boosted sentiment. Nickel gained 5.7% but tin fell by 0.8%. For the week, nickel surged 12.1% and copper lifted 3%, but aluminium fell 1%.

The gold futures price rose by US$8.40 an ounce or 0.5% to US$1,728.60 an ounce. Spot gold was trading near US$1,716 an ounce at the US close. Over the week, gold lifted by US$6.00 an
ounce or 0.3%. Iron ore futures rose by US$2.14 or 2.1% to US$102.23 a tonne. For the week, iron ore gained US$6.89 a tonne or 7.2% as the onset of the peak construction season in China bolstered sentiment.

Ahead: US consumer inflation expectations data is released.

Originally published by CommSec