In US economic data, housing starts fell by 2% from a 1.591 million annual pace to 1.559m in June (survey: 1.58m). Building permits fell from 1.695m to 1.685m (survey: 1.65m). Chain store sales in the past week were up 14.6% on the year after rising an annual 13% in the prior week.
European sharemarkets rose on Tuesday on a report that Russian gas flows to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline are seen restarting on time. Traders await the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday. Shares of EDF rose 14.7% after the French government offered to pay 9.7 billion euros (US$9.85 billion) to take full control of the power company in a buyout deal. The panEuropean STOXX 600 index rose by 1.4% to a 5-week high. The German Dax index gained 2.7% and the UK FTSE index rose by 1.0%. In London trade, shares of Rio Tinto fell by 0.1%; BHP shares fell by 0.9%.
US sharemarkets lifted by 2-3% on Tuesday as more companies reported better-than-expected earnings. After issuing quarterly reports, shares in toy company Hasbro rose 0.7% and oilfield services provider Haliburton rose 2.1%. But despite better earnings, shares in Johnson & Johnson fell 1.5% with IBM down 5.2%. In this earnings season, analysts expect aggregate year-on-year S&P 500 profit to grow 5.8%, down from the 6.8% estimate at the start of the quarter, according to Refinitiv data. Shares in Boeing rose 5.7% on plans by private equity firm 777 Partners to buy up to 66 more Boeing 737 MAX jets. The Dow Jones index rose by 754 points or 2.4% and the S&P 500 index rose 2.8%. And the Nasdaq index rose
by 353 points or 3.1%.
US treasuries were weaker on Tuesday (yields higher) in response to a lift in equities. US 10-year yields rose by 6 points to near 3.02% and US 2-year yields rose by 8 points to near 3.24%.
Major currencies were firmer against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro rose from lows near US$1.0130 to highs near US$1.0265 and was at US$1.0225 at the US close. The Aussie dollar rose from lows near US68.45 cents to highs near US69.15 cents and was near US69.00 cents at the US close. And the
Japanese yen held between 137.40 yen per US dollar and JPY138.25 and was near JPY138.20 at the US close.
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Global oil prices rose on Tuesday in response to a fall in US dollar. A weaker greenback makes oil less expensive for buyers in Europe and Asia. Traders await weekly data on US crude inventories. The Brent crude price rose by US$1.08 or 1.0% to US$107.35 a barrel. And the US Nymex crude price rose by US$1.62 or 1.6% to US$104.22 a barrel.
Base metal prices fell by as much as 2% on Tuesday with copper down the most. But tin bucked the trend, up 0.7%.
The gold futures price rose by US50 cents an ounce or less than 0.1% to US$1,710.70 an ounce. Spot gold was trading near US$1,711 an ounce at the US close. The iron ore futures price fell by US$2.12 or 2.0% to US$103.14 a tonne.
Ahead: The Reserve Bank Governor delivers a speech. Detailed skilled vacancies data is issued. In China, the loan prime rates fixing is announced. In the US, existing home sales data is released.
Originally published by CommSec
