Varying gains for the major indices
The major European indices are closing higher to start the trading month. A look at the provisional closes shows
- German DAX, +0.3%
- France's CAC, +1.0%
- UK's FTSE 100, +0.7%
- Spain's Ibex, +0.9%
- Italy's FTSE MIB, unchanged
In other markets as London/European traders look to exit:
- Spot gold is trading up $1.07 or 0.06% at $1815
- Spot Silver is down one cent or -0.06% at $25.43
- WTI crude oil futures are moving sharply lower. The price is down $-2.52 or -3.41% at $71.15
- Bitcoin is trading steady at $39,778.78. The high price over the weekend reached $42,400.
In the US stock market, the NASDAQ is leading the way to the upside, but all three indices are higher:
- Dow, +126.59 points or 0.36% at 35062.06
- S&P index up 18.84 points or 0.43% at 4414.10
- NASDAQ index up 91.4 points or 0.62% at 14674.10
In the US debt market, yields continue to push to the downside with the tenure yield down -6.7 basis points to 1.172%. The 2-10 year spread is also lower and back below the 100 basis point level at 99.8 basis points versus 105.1 basis points at the close on Friday.
In the forex, the AUD remains the strongest of the majors, but the rise in the JPY in the NY session is pushing for that lead. The CAD is the weakest as sharply lower oil prices help to weaken the loonie.
The USD is mostly lower with modest gains verse the GBP and CAD. The ISM data was weaker than expected although the employment component did rise back above the 50 level (52.9 versus 49.9 last month). Prices paid came off sharply but still remains well above the 50 level at a 85.7 (was 92.1 in June).
