In US economic data, industrial production rose by 0.4% in September (survey: +0.1%). The NAHB housing market index fell from 46 to 38 in October, the weakest since May 2020 (survey: 43).
European sharemarkets rose for a fourth straight session on Tuesday, driven by Britain’s reversal of its fiscal plan and anticipated new EU measures to tackle elevated energy prices. The continentwide FTSEurofirst 300 index gained 0.3%. Avanza Bank shares climbed 12% after the Swedish financial group posted strong third quarter operating profit and revenue. The UK FTSE 100 index added 0.2%, lifting to an 11-day high, amid reports that Prime Minister Liz Truss was battling to hold on to her leadership position. But gains were capped after it became clear that the Bank of England would not be delaying its plans to start selling UK government bonds again.
US sharemarkets advanced on Tuesday as strong earnings results helped extend a rally that began on Monday. Shares of Goldman Sachs gained 2.3% after reporting a smaller-than-expected drop in quarterly profit. Shares of aerospace and defence company Lockheed Martin jumped 8.7% after a third quarter profit beat. And while Johnson & Johnson (-0.4%) beat market expectations for earnings per share, the company narrowed its full-year guidance. Salesforce shares gained 4.3% after a media report that activist investor Starboard Value LP has picked up stake in the software giant. The Dow Jones index rose by 338 points or 1.1%. The S&P 500 index also gained 1.1%. And the Nasdaq index added 97 points or 0.9%.
US treasuries rose on Tuesday (yields lower), as recent moves by the British government to stabilise its bond market have eased market anxiety that has led to some short-covering. US 10-year yields fell by around 1 point to near 4.00%. And US 2-year yields fell by around 2 points to near 4.43%.
Major currencies were mixed against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro rose from lows near US$0.9812 to highs near US$0.9872 and was near US$0.9855 at the US close. But the Aussie dollar fell from highs near US63.39 cents to lows near US62.68 cents and was near US63.10 cents at the US close. And the Japanese yen eased from 148.77 yen per US dollar to JPY149.28 and was near JPY149.20 at the US close.
Top Australian Brokers
- City Index - Aussie shares from $5 - Read our review
- Pepperstone - Trading education - Read our review
- IC Markets - Experienced and highly regulated - Read our review
- eToro - Social and copy trading platform - Read our review
Global oil prices tumbled on Tuesday on fears of higher US supply amid an economic slowdown and lower Chinese fuel demand. The US is moving towards releasing further barrels of crude from its
Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to bolster supply to cool fuel prices. The Brent crude oil price fell by US$1.59 or 1.7% to US$90.03 a barrel. And the US Nymex crude oil price lost US$2.64 or 3.1% to US$82.82 a barrel.
Base metal prices were mostly lower on Tuesday, pressured by investor disappointment that China failed to ease its strict Covid-19 policy and as a global economic downturn dampens metals demand.
Copper and aluminium both fell by 2.1% but nickel rose by 1.5%.
The gold futures price fell by US$8.20 an ounce or 0.5% to US$1,655.80 an ounce. Spot gold was trading near US$1,651 an ounce at the US close. Iron ore futures rose by US28 cents or 0.3%
to US$95.21 a tonne.
Originally published by CommSec