OPENING CALL: The Australian share market is expected to open flat. The SPI200 futures contract expected to open down 2 points.
On Monday, China’s cabinet approved plans to cut import tariffs for all trading partners on more than 850 types of products, the latest
step toward a so-called phase-one trade deal with Washington.
A Tesla rally has taken the stock above a symbolic threshold Monday, the $420 a share at which Chief Executive Elon Musk last year said he wanted to take the electric-vehicle maker private.
Overnight Summary
Each Market in Focus
Australian shares continue drifting away from their recent highs, falling for a third straight session. The S&P/ASX 200 kicked off the holiday-shortened week by falling 0.5% to 6785.1, settling at the day’s low and widening the gap from late November’s all-time high to 1.2%.
Miners led the retreat, with BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue each losing more than 1.0% and South32 falling 2.5%. Banks also joined the broad losses, with Commonwealth Bank 0.5% lower and Macquarie 0.9% weaker.
U.S. stocks broadly inched higher to start the week, building on a string of fresh highs for major indexes. The S&P 500 rose 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.3%. Signs of easing trade tensions between the U.S. and China also lifted shares at the start of the holiday-shortened week.
A jump in Boeing shares drove the Dow Jones Industrial Average toward a new record. The blue-chip index of 30 stocks added 100 points, or 0.4%, to 28555. Shares of Boeing climbed 2.7% after the aerospace giant named a new chief executive, making it the biggest gainer in the Dow industrials early Monday.
Gold prices rose to their highest level since early November to start a shortened holiday week that kicked off with U.S. stocks also recording all-time highs in intraday trade.
Bullion for February delivery on Comex rose $7.80, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,488.70 an ounce, breaking above the “pivotal” $1,480 to $1,481 range, which may put the yellow metal on track for further gains.
Oil futures settled slightly higher, even as reports indicated that a recent pact to curb global output by OPEC and its allies may be eased and as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia appeared close to a resolution on a disputed territory, which could see fresh oil hit the market in coming months.
West Texas Intermediate oil for February delivery finished up 8 cents, or 0.1%, at $60.52 a barrel, after the international benchmark snapped a sixth straight session of gains on Friday sinking 1.2%.
European stocks were mixed with gains in healthcare stocks offset by declines in banking shares. The Stoxx Europe 600 index was flat at 418, the FTSE 100 gains 0.5% to 7623, the DAX falls 0.1% to 13300 and the CAC-40 rises 0.1% to 6029.
rising 2.1%. Exporters were broadly higher, with clothing manufacturer Shenzhou International adding 1.9%.
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