Australian Market

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.8% higher, rounding out its largest weekly gain since November. Tech was again the best-performing sector, rising 1.7%. Banks — ANZ, Commonwealth, Macquarie and NAB — added between 0.3% and 1.4% as the government appointed Michele Bullock as the new governor of the country’s central bank. Gold, iron-ore and lithium stocks showed strength, while real estate and consumer discretionary also rose. The ASX 200 rose 3.7% for the week.

US Market 

The S&P 500 hovered near its highest close since April 2022 after signs of cooling inflation this week boosted stocks marketwide. The S&P 500 fell 0.1% for the day, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite Index edged down 0.2%. The Dow and the tech-heavy Nasdaq recorded their best weeks since March, rising 2.3% and 3.3%, respectively.

The S&P 500 gained 2.4% for the week in a broad-based advance, with all 11 sectors moving higher for the week. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup beat analysts’ forecasts for profit and revenue, with JPMorgan’s profit jumping 67% and Wells Fargo’s rising 57%.

Commodities

Gold futures marked a fourth-straight session climb, with prices posting their best week since April, after a batch of encouraging U.S. inflation data helped drag the dollar to its lowest level in more than a year. August gold futures added less than 0.1%, to settle at $1,964.40 per ounce on Comex.

Prices for the most-active contract ended about 1.7% higher for the week, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That was the strongest weekly rise since the week ended April 6. Gold was slightly higher following Wednesday’s June consumer price index inflation report, and Thursday’s June producer price index report, offered the most convincing evidence yet that inflation in the U.S. is starting to ease.

Oil Futures

Oil prices settled lower, but production cuts and a weaker U.S. dollar helped prices post their longest consecutive streak of weekly gains since April. West Texas Intermediate for August delivery fell by 1.9% to settle at $75.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, paring its weekly rise to 2.1%, FactSet data show.

September Brent crude fell by 1.8% to $79.87 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, for a weekly rise of 1.8%. Production at Libya’s El Feel, Sharara and 108 oilfields was shut on Thursday in protest against the abduction of a former finance minister, Reuters reported Thursday, citing comments from a tribal leader.

Forex

European Markets

European stocks are likely to open a tad lower on Monday as investors await more U.S. economic data and corporate earnings this week for directional cues. U.S. reports on retail sales, industrial production, housing starts and existing home sales due this week will provide further clarity on whether the Federal Reserve can reduce inflation without causing a recession. On the earnings front, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, IBM Corp., Netflix, Tesla, Johnson & Johnson and American Express are among the prominent companies due to report their quarterly results this week.

Asian Markets

 Earlier, in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Index ended 0.1% lower, dragged by falls in auto and retail stocks. Chinese stocks ended mixed as the market’s mood was buoyed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s China visit and Beijing’s supportive policies for the property sector.

Software makers and telecoms led the gains. Among the losers were consumption brands and auto makers. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended up 0.04%, the Shenzhen Composite Index also was little moved, and the tech-heavy ChiNext Price Index decreased 0.6%.