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In US economic data, the National Association of Home Builders index fell from +67 points to +55 points in July (survey: +65), the lowest reading since May 2020.
European sharemarkets rose on Monday but finished off session highs. Russia’s Gazprom declared force majeure (failure to deliver supplies due to ‘extraordinary’ circumstances) on some gas supplies to Europe. Miners (+3%), oil & gas (+2.8%) and banks (+2.1%) led gains. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose by 0.9% after being up 1.5%. The German Dax index gained 0.7% and the UK FTSE index rose by 0.9%. In London trade, shares of Rio Tinto rose by 2.9%; BHP shares rose 3.1%.
US sharemarkets eased on Monday, dragged down by weaker bank stocks and a fall in the Apple share price. Apple lost 2.1% on a Bloomberg report that said the company plans to slow hiring and spending growth next year in some units to cope with a potential economic downturn. The S&P financial sector fell by 0.5%. Shares in Bank of America ended flat after its earnings report. But energy rose by 2% on a rise in the oil price. Shares in Boeing ended flat after Delta Air Lines said it would buy 100 MAX 10 jets worth about $13.5 billion. After being up 356 points early in the session, the Dow Jones index closed lower by 216 points or 0.7%, the S&P 500 index lost 0.8%. And the Nasdaq index lost 92 points or 0.8%.
US treasuries were weaker on Monday (yields higher). US 10-year yields rose by 4 points to near 2.97% and US 2-year yields rose by 4 points to near 3.17%.
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Major currencies were mixed against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro rose from lows near US$1.0080 to highs near US$1.0200 and was at US$1.0145 at the US close. The Aussie dollar rose from lows near US67.95 cents to highs near US68.55 cents and was near US68.10 cents at the US close. And the Japanese yen held between 137.90 yen per US dollar to JPY138.45 and was near JPY138.14 at the US close.
Global oil prices rose by 5.1% on Monday. Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom has told customers in Europe it cannot guarantee gas supplies because of ‘extraordinary’ circumstances. The issue relates to supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, a major supply route to Germany and beyond. The Brent crude price rose by US$5.11 or 5.1% to US$106.27 a barrel. And the US Nymex crude price rose by US$5.01 or 5.1% to US$102.60 a barrel.
Base metal prices rose by between 2.5-6.6% on Monday. The exception was tin, down 0.6%.
The gold futures price rose by US$2.60 or 2.3% to US$1,710.20 an ounce. Spot gold was trading near US$1,708 an ounce at the US close. The iron ore futures price rose by US$2.19 or 2.1% to US$105.26 a tonne.
Published by CommSec
