Global Fundamental Analysis 23/06/2020

Australian Market

Australian shares closed a volatile session nearly flat at 5944.5, with strength in the heavyweight financial and mining sectors offsetting weakness elsewhere.

US Market

U.S. stocks rallied after a choppy morning session as investors continued to put faith in signs of a nascent economic recovery, despite a rise in coronavirus-infection rates in some states.
All three major indexes traded solidly higher in the afternoon after wavering throughout the morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 152 points, or 0.6%. The S&P 500 added 0.7%, while the Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.1%, driven by gains among
large-cap technology stocks.

Stocks are attempting to extend last week’s rally, during which all three indexes ended the week up 1% or more. However, looming uncertainties surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, relations between U.S. and China and the November election have begun to weigh more heavily on investors. Data shows that infections have picked up pace in Arizona, South Carolina, Florida and Texas.

Commodities

Gold futures notched their highest finish in nearly 10 weeks, as investors closely watched infections across the world pick up, boosting demand for the metal that is perceived as a haven.  On Comex Monday, August gold rose $13.40, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,766.40 an ounce, after surging 1.3% on Friday to notch a 0.9% weekly gain. Prices based on the most-active contract settled at their highest since April 14, according to Dow Jones Market Data. It had traded as high as $1,779 during the session, and a finish around that level would have been the highest since 2012.

Oil Futures

U.S. benchmark oil prices settled above $40 a barrel for the first time since early March, closing 1.8% higher at a 15-week-high $40.46 as states continued to reopen their economies despite an uptick in coronavirus cases.  Crude’s rally came despite a record-high amount of U.S. oil inventories in storage.

Forex

European Markets

Asian Markets

Earlier, in the Asian Pacific region, most markets slipped as coronavirus concerns continued.  China’s major stock market indexes ended mixed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.1% to settle at 2965.27, while the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index added 0.3%. The startup-heavy ChiNext Price Index climbed 1.0%, rising for the seventh consecutive session.  Japanese shed 0.2%, weighed by railway and airline stocks, as concerns continue about a slow recovery from the pandemic.