OPENING CALL: The Australian share market is to open higher.
U.S. stocks settled higher, led by gains in the tech sector. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was flat at 0.78%. The WSJ Dollar Index nudged higher to 88.06. Oil prices settled lower as Gulf production rebounded partially. Gold settled higher on U.S. stimulus hopes.
Australian Market
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shares rose 0.5% even as talk of China pushing back on Australian coal imports weighed on commodity stocks. The benchmark index posted a sixth straight gain for the first time since June.
US Market
U.S. stocks jumped sharply, propelled higher by a surge in technology stocks that put major indexes on track for their highest close in nearly six weeks.
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed for the fourth consecutive session in midafternoon trading. The S&P 500, which rose 1.8% for the day, was on pace for its second-highest close in history. The Dow rallied 1%.
Commodities
Gold futures settled higher amid expectations for an eventual agreement on a COVID-19 stimulus package.
December gold rose $2.70, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,928.90, according to FactSet data.
Oil Futures
U.S. benchmark oil prices settled 2.9% lower at $39.43 a barrel as Hurricane Delta and a Norway oil strike came to an end.
Offshore oil production in the Gulf of Mexico is recovering as workers are ferried back to production platforms to restart operations. Output in Norway will ramp up sharply to make up for the production losses during the work stoppage.
Forex
Major currencies were mostly weaker against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro fell from highs near US$1.1825 to lows near US$1.1786 and was near US$1.1810 at the US close. The Aussie dollar fell from highs near US72.34 cents to lows near US72.02 cents and was US72.10 cents at the US close. And the Japanese yen rose from 105.60 yen per US dollar to JPY105.23 and was near JPY105.30 at the US close.
European Markets
European sharemarkets hit 5-week highs on Monday with the panEuropean STOXX 600 index up by 0.7%. Shares of Dutch telecommunications company KPN lifted 6.8% following a report that Sweden-based private equity firm EQT was considering a takeover. The German Dax index also rose by 0.7%. But the UK FTSE index fell by 0.3% after the UK government announced a three-tier system of local virus restrictions for England. In London trade, shares of Rio Tinto fell by 1.5% and BHP shares lost 1.2%.
Asian Markets
Earlier Monday, China’s major stock benchmarks posted solid gains. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.6%, Shenzhen Composite Index climbed 3.3% and the ChiNext Price Index added 3.9%.
Japanese stocks declined 0.3%, hurt by auto stocks as the yen strengthened amid uncertainty over the pace of a global economic recovery.
Access 10,000+ financial instruments