Opening Call: The Australian share market is to open higher.
Stocks closed mostly higher, led by the Dow industrials. The 10-year Treasury note yield settled at 1.62%, its highest level since February of last year, compared with 1.525% Thursday.
The WSJ Dollar Index was up 0.29% to 86.45. Oil ended lower, contributing to a loss for the week. Gold prices logged their first loss in four sessions.
Australian Market
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.8% higher, with every sector gaining as the benchmark recorded its strongest session of a volatile week. Tech stocks led the way, as they did in a strong lead from Wall Street. The ASX 200 rose 0.8% for the week, the first time the index has risen for consecutive weeks in 2021.
US Market
U.S. stocks mostly rose on the day and finished with big weekly gains, boosted by signs that the domestic economy is revving up.
The S&P 500 rose 0.1% after being down most of the session. The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.6%, led down by technology shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added about 0.9%.
Both the Dow and S&P 500 ended the day at closing records. The S&P 500 and Dow for the week gained around 2.6% and 4.1%, respectively. The Nasdaq added 3.1%.
Stocks have broadly rallied this week following a rebound in technology shares and growing appetite for sectors like banking and energy that would benefit from the economy rebounding. The week has been marked by big swings in stocks and government bonds.
Commodities
Gold futures were under selling pressure as government debt resumed a selloff, pushing bond yields and the U.S. dollar higher, but gold held onto a gain for the week.
April gold on Comex fell $2.80, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,723.20 an ounce, after gaining less than 0.1% in the previous session. Gold posted its first loss in four sessions on the day. For the week, based on the most-active contract prices, gold saw a gain of about 1.3%.
Oil Futures
Oil futures ended lower, pulling back a day after a rally led by optimism over U.S. gasoline demand helped push the global crude benchmark to its highest close since May West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery fell 41 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $65.63 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
May Brent crude also declined by 41 cents, or 0.6%, to $69.23 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, after posting on Thursday the highest finish for a front-month contract since May 28, 2019.
Forex
European Markets
Asian Markets
The Nikkei Stock Average closed 1.7% higher, led by gains in e-commerce and electronics stocks. The Bank of Japan’s policy review will be closely watched next week.
China’s major stock benchmarks ended higher for the second straight session to continue their recovery from deep losses earlier this week.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.5% after snapping a five-session losing streak on Thursday.
The Shenzhen Composite Index added 0.2%, while the ChiNext Price Index, a measure for emerging industries and startups, gained 0.4%.
Oil companies led the upturn, as crude prices notched their highest close in nearly two years overnight.
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