In US economic data, the Chicago Federal Reserve national activity index lifted from -0.25 points to +0.27 points in July (survey: -0.2 points).
European sharemarkets fell on Monday. Investors continued to fret about recession risks. Also there were worries about tightening gas supplies after energy giant Gazprom said that Russia will halt natural gas supplies to Europe for three days at the end of the month. Uniper, Germany’s top importer of Russian gas, declined 7.7% to hover near a record low. The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 1.0%. The German Dax index fell by 2.3%. And the UK FTSE index fell by 0.2%. But in London trade, shares of Rio Tinto rose by 0.6% while shares in BHP rose by 1.7%.
US sharemarkets fell on Monday. Investors fret that a speech by US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Friday will confirm that the aggressive monetary policy stance will continue until inflation is under control. Technology stocks fell as treasury yields rose. Shares in Nvidia fell 4.6%, Amazon fell 3.6% and Microsoft fell 2.9%. Shares in cinema chain AMC Entertainment fell by 42% after UK-based rival Cineworld Group warned of a possible bankruptcy filing. The Dow Jones index lost 643 points or 1.9%. The S&P 500 index lost 2.1%. And the Nasdaq index fell by 324 points or 2.6%.
US treasuries fell on Monday (yields higher). The focus remains on the speech by the US Fed chair on Friday. US 10-year yields rose by around 4 points to near 3.03%. And US 2-year yields rose by 6 points to near 3.32%.
Major currencies were weaker against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro fell from highs near US$1.0040 to lows near US$0.9925 and was near US$0.9940 at the US close. The Aussie dollar fell from near US69.25 cents to US68.60 cents and was near US68.75 cents at the US close. And the Japanese yen eased from near 136.70 yen per US dollar to JPY137.60 and ended US trade near JPY137.45.
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Global oil prices rebounded from lows to end only modestly lower on Monday. The Saudi energy minister said the OPEC+ producer group could cut production to confront market challenges. The US dollar also rose to a five-week high on Monday. A stronger greenback makes it more expensive for buyers with other currencies in the dollar-denominated oil market. The Brent crude oil price fell by US24 cents or 0.2% to US$96.48 a barrel. And the US Nymex crude oil price fell by US54 cents or 0.6% to US$90.23 a barrel.
Base metal prices were mixed on Monday. Aluminium, nickel and zinc rose by as much as 0.5% while other metals fell as much as 1.5% with tin down the most.
The gold futures price fell by US$14.50 an ounce or 0.8% to US$1,748.40 an ounce. Spot gold was trading near US$1,734 an ounce at the US close. Iron ore futures rose by US16 cents or 0.2% to US$104.37 a tonne.
Ahead: The purchasing managers indexes (PMIs) are released in Australia with weekly consumer confidence. In the US, new home sales data is issued with the PMIs and the Richmond Federal
Reserve manufacturing index.
Originally published by CommSec
