US financial markets were closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday.
European sharemarkets generally fell on Monday. Automakers fell by 4.8% but energy stocks rose by 2.2% in response to higher oil prices. The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.6%. The German Dax index fell by 2.2% after Russia stopped pumping gas via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Europe. Gas and utility stocks fell. Shares of
Germany’s biggest importer of Russian gas, Uniper, dropped 11%. Data also showed the German services sector contracting for a second straight month. But the UK FTSE index edged higher by 0.1%. UK foreign minister, Liz Truss, won the vote of Conservative Party members to be the new Prime Minister. She has vowed to proceed with tax cuts and will attempt to deal with higher energy prices and the generally higher cost of living. In London trade, shares in Rio Tinto rose by 0.7% and shares in BHP rose by 0.9%.
US sharemarkets were closed on Monday. Last Friday, the Dow Jones index was down by 338 points or 1.1% after earlier being up 370 points. The S&P 500 index also fell by 1.1%. And the Nasdaq index lost 154 points or 1.3%. Over the week the Dow lost 3%; S&P 500 fell 3.3%; and the Nasdaq fell 4.2%.
US treasuries were closed on Monday. Last Friday bond yields fell. US 10-year yields fell by around 7 points to near 3.195%. And US 2- year yields fell by around 13 points to near 3.396%. Over the week US 10-year yields rose by 17 points with US 2-year yields up 1 point.
Major currencies were mixed against the US dollar in European and North American trade. The Euro rose from near US$0.9880 to highs near US$0.9940 and was near US$0.9930 at the North American close. The Aussie dollar rose from near US67.70 cents to highs near US68.03 cents and was near US68.00 cents at the North American close. And the Japanese yen eased from 140.28 yen per US dollar to JPY140.64 and was near JPY140.57 at the North American close.
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Global oil prices rose by around 2.5% on Monday after the OPEC+ group of oil producers agreed to a small production cut of 100,000 barrels per day (0.1% of global demand). OPEC+ also agreed they could meet any time to adjust production before the next scheduled meeting on October 5. Reuters reported: “Russian Deputy Prime
Minister Alexander Novak said that expectations of weaker global economic growth were behind a decision by Moscow and its OPEC allies to cut oil output.” The Brent crude oil price rose by US$2.72 or 2.9% to US$95.74 a barrel. And the US Nymex crude oil price rose by US$2.05 or 2.4% to US$88.92 a barrel.
Base metals were mixed on Monday. Aluminium and lead fell by as much as 0.6% while other metals rose with nickel up 4.6% and zinc and tin up 2.2%.
Spot gold was trading near US$1,708 an ounce in North American trade, down from US$1,711 on Friday. Iron ore futures rose by US$3.13 or 3.3% to US$98.47 a tonne.
Ahead: In Australia, the Reserve Bank Board meets. Data on government finance, Balance of Payments and weekly consumer confidence are issued. In the US, the ISM services index is issued.
Originally published by CommSec
