OPENING CALL: The Australian share market is to open higher.
U.S. stocks ended lower after Trump halted stimulus talks. The 10-year Treasury note yield settled at 0.75%, compared with 0.760% Monday. The WSJ Dollar Index recently rose 0.36% to 88.77. Crude oil prices notched back-to-back gains. Gold futures retreated from their highest levels in two weeks.
Australian Market
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index ended the session 0.4% higher at 5962.1 as the country’s central bank held the cash rate and the federal government prepared to release its budget. The index slipped at the open and bounced around the gain line before a final boost coinciding with the Reserve Bank’s rate decision.
US Market
U.S. stocks fell after President Trump dashed hopes for a new economic relief package before the November election.
The S&P 500 fell 1.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.3% and the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.6%.
Commodities
Gold futures finished lower, falling back from the more than two-week high it finished at a day earlier.
December gold fell $11.30, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,908.80 an ounce.
Oil Futures
Oil futures notched back-to-back gains, building on the previous session’s sharp climb as investors focused on a strike that’s curtailed Norwegian output and Hurricane Delta, which has led to production disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico.
West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery rose $1.45, or 3.7%, to settle at $40.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, following a climb of 5.9% on Monday.
Forex
Major currencies were weaker against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro fell from highs near US$1.1805 to lows near US$1.1725 and was near US$1.1750 at the US close. The Aussie dollar fell from highs near US71.90 cents to lows near US71.10 cents and was near US71.20 cents at the US close. And the Japanese yen held between 105.51 yen per US dollar and JPY105.69 and was near JPY105.50 at the US close.
European Markets
European sharemarkets were higher on Tuesday. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose for the fourth straight day, up by 0.1%. Banks rose by 3.4% on hopes for a new US fiscal stimulus package. Travel & leisure also rose while technology and healthcare sectors both eased around 0.9%. Investors reacted positively to data showing a 4.5% lift in orders for German-made goods in August. The German Dax index rose by 0.6%. And the UK FTSE index gained 0.1%. In London trade, shares of Rio Tinto fell by 0.7% while BHP shares lost 1.4%.
Asian Markets
Japanese stocks ended higher, led by auto and pharmaceutical stocks, thanks to continuing hopes for a recovery from the pandemic and eased U.S. policy uncertainty. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.5% to 23433.73.
Mainland China’s major stock benchmarks remained on national holiday.
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