In US economic data, the Chicago Federal Reserve national activity index rose from 0.36 to 0.47 in April (survey: 0.35).
European sharemarkets were firmer on Monday. A survey from the Ifo institute showed that German business morale unexpectedly rose in May. And in corporate news, Siemens Gamesa rose 6.2% after Siemens Energy launched a 4.05 billion-euro (US$4.3 billion) bid for minority holdings in the wind turbine unit. Banks rose 2.3% alongside commodity-linked stocks. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose by 1.3%. The German Dax index rose by 1.4% and the UK FTSE index rose by 1.7%. In London trade, shares in Rio Tinto rose by 2.1% while BHP shares gained 1.8%.
US sharemarkets were firmer on Monday. Shares in JPMorgan Chase rose 6.2% after it raised its current year interest income outlook. The S&P banks index rose 5.1%. Tech stocks also rose with shares in Apple up 4% and shares in Microsoft rose by 3.2%. So far 474 of the companies in the S&P 500 have posted results. Of those, 78% beat expectations, according to Refinitiv. The Dow Jones index closed higher by 618 points or 2.0%. The S&P 500 index rose by 1.9%. And the Nasdaq index lifted by 181 points or 1.6%.
US treasuries fell on Monday (yields higher) as investors favoured stocks over bonds. But Atlanta Federal Reserve president RaphaelBostic said that it “might make sense” to pause further hikes after
the June and July meetings for the US central bank to assess the impact on inflation and the economy. US 10-year yields rose by around 8 points to near 2.86%. And US 2-year yields rose by around 4 points to near 2.62%.
Major currencies were mixed against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro rose from near US$1.0590 to highs near US$1.0695 and was near US$1.0690 at the US close. The Aussie dollar held between levels near US70.85 cents and US71.25 cents and was near US71.05 cents at the US close. But the Japanese yen eased from 127.35 yen per US dollar to JPY127.95 and was near JPY127.90 at the US close.
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Global oil prices rose by up to 0.8% on Monday. While global demand for crude continues to outpace supply, failure of the European Union to agree to a ban on Russian oil crimped price gains. At the same time, the US White House is considering tapping the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve. The Brent crude price rose by US87 cents or 0.8% to US$113.42 a barrel. And the US Nymex crude price rose 1 cent to US$110.29 a barrel.
Base metal prices were mixed on Monday. Nickel, tin and aluminium fell by as much as 0.9%. Other metals rose with zinc up 2%.
The gold futures price rose by US$5.70 or 0.3% to US$1,847.80 an ounce. Spot gold was trading near US$1,852 an ounce at the US close. The iron ore futures price fell by 7 cents or 0.1% to US$134.29 a tonne.
Ahead: In Australia, the ‘flash’ S&P Global purchasing managers index (PMI) is released with weekly consumer confidence. In the US, the S&P Global PMI is released with new home sales and the Richmond Federal Reserve index. The Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell speaks.
Originally published by CommSec
