Australian Market

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.2% lower as broad-based weakness offset gains in energy and technology stocks.

US Market 

Stocks traded mixed in a tight range as traders awaited news from the debt-ceiling negotiations and chewed over the latest remarks from Federal Reserve officials, including from one who said he favored additional interest-rate increases.. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5% to a new 2023 high, while the S&P 500 ticked 0.02% higher. The indexes are now up on the year 22% and 9.2%, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.4% to leave it up just 0.4% this year.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard was among the central bank officials who gave public remarks, saying he would like to see two more rate increases. President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) were due to meet Monday evening in pursuit of a deal to raise the government’s debt ceiling by June 1, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the U.S. could run out of money to pay all its bills.

Commodities

Gold futures settled lower, extending last week’s losses, as traders waited to see how the debt-ceiling debate in Washington would shake out – while a stronger U.S. dollar has eaten away at some of the yellow metal’s gains. June gold declined by 0.2% to settle at $1,977.20 an ounce on Comex after losing 1.9% last week.  

“Although gold has fallen back from the near record high it surged to earlier in the month, it remains at a level that the precious metal has only traded at a smattering of times in its long history as market confidence remains fragile and investors are seeking gold to manage their risk,” said Rupert Rowling, market analyst at Kinesis Money, in daily commentary.

Oil Futures

Oil prices settled a bit higher after U.S. prices gained more than 2% last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery rose 0.6% to settle at $71.99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on the contract’s expiration day. Front Month ICE Brent Crude for July delivery gained 0.54% to $75.99.

The recovery for oil prices “wasn’t driven by anything specific, so it remains to be seen where prices are headed from here,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at StoneX. However, “the weaker demand narrative is now mostly priced in, and short sellers have less reason to slam prices lower than a couple of weeks ago.”

Asian Markets

In Asian trading, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average ended 0.9% higher to its highest closing level since July 1990. Asian investors appear to be optimistic about the U.S. debt-ceiling negotiations and China’s economic recovery, said Priyanka Sachdeva, market analyst at Phillip Nova.

Chinese shares ended higher, thanks to multiple positive factors including a stronger yuan versus the U.S. dollar and a less aggressive stance by the U.S. and its allies against Beijing at the G-7 meeting. The Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Composite indexes closed 0.4% higher, while the ChiNext Price Index rose by 0.1%.