Australian Market

Australian shares closed 2.2% lower at 5719.8, losing ground for a third straight session.

US Market

U.S. stocks recovered their losses, pushing major indexes higher after a pickup in coronavirus cases had rattled investors earlier in the session. Major indexes traded near their session highs after the Federal Reserve said it would buy individual corporate bonds in addition to the exchange-traded funds it has already been purchasing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 158 points, or 0.6%, to 25763 as of the 4 p.m. ET close of trading, a big turnaround from earlier in the trading session, when the blue-chip index had fallen more than 600 points.  The S&P 500 also flipped to green from red, advancing 0.8% in recent trading, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.4%.

Commodities

Gold futures finished lower, failing to derive support from a decline in the U.S. dollar or losses in global markets sparked by worries about growing evidence of rising cases of coronavirus. August gold lost $10.10, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,727.20 an ounce on Comex. The yellow metal saw a gain of 3.2% last week, based on the most-active contract.

Oil Futures

Oil prices climbed, shooting higher after the Federal Reserve said it will update its purchases of corporate bonds to include individual bonds in addition to exchange-traded funds.
U.S. crude futures for delivery in July ended the day up 2.4% at $37.12 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, extending a recent stretch of volatility after they approached $40 last week. Prices had fallen more than 4% in morning trading before rising in the afternoon.

Oil has staged a powerful recovery in recent weeks since dropping below $0 for the first time ever in late April, lifted by the return of drivers to the roads and record supply cuts by large producers.

Forex

The Euro and commodity currencies were firmer against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro rose from lows near US$1.1225 to highs near US$1.1330 and was near US$1.1315 at the US close. The Aussie dollar rose from lows near US67.80 cents to highs near US69.25 cents and was near US69.15 cents at the US close. The Japanese yen eased from near JPY107.00 per US dollar to JPY107.45 and was near JPY107.35 at the US close.

European Markets

European sharemarkets mostly fell on Monday on concerns about a fresh outbreak of coronavirus cases in Beijing. Shares in BP fell 2.2% as it said it would incur an up to $17.5 billion write-down in the value of its assets after revising down the outlook for oil and gas prices. The pan-European STOXX 600 index eased by 0.3%. The German Dax index fell by 0.3%. And the UK FTSE index was lower by 0.7%. In London trade shares in Rio Tinto fell by 2.5% while BHP lost 3.3%.

Asian Markets

Earlier, renewed concerns about the severity and length of the coronavirus downturn dragged most equity markets in the Asia-Pacific region lower. Mainland Chinese stocks ended the session mixed, as some investors stayed on the sidelines. The benchmark Shanghai Composite fell 1.0% to settle at 2890.03, while the Shenzhen Composite Index declined 0.3% to 1865.34. However, the ChiNext Price Index was 0.6% higher.

Japanese stocks ended broadly lower, with electronics and real-estate stocks falling especially sharply. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 3.5% to 21530.95.