OPENING CALL: The Australian share market is to open lower.
U.S. stocks closed higher as stimulus talks continued. The yield on the 10-year Treasury declined to 0.520% from 0.562% Monday. The WSJ Dollar Index was recently down 0.24% to 88.64. Crude-oil prices settled higher ahead of U.S. supply data. Gold prices were higher, ending above $2,000 for the first time.
Australian Market
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index rose 1.9% to close at 6037.6 amid broad-based gains that recovered most of the ground lost over the previous two sessions.
US Market
U.S. stocks ticked up modestly as investors held out cautious hope for progress in Washington on an aid package to support an economy roiled by a pandemic.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.62% as of the 4 p.m. close of trading in NewYork. The S&P 500 rose 0.36%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.35%.
Commodities
Gold futures settled higher, gathering momentum late in the session to finish at a fresh record as government bond yields headed lower and as the U.S. dollar’s recent rebound receded somewhat, allowing the precious metal to make an assault on a record close above the $2,000 threshold.
December gold rose $34.70, or 1.7%, at $2,021 an ounce, after notching a less-than 0.1% gain on Monday and starting out with meager gains.
Oil Futures
Oil futures reversed early losses, ending higher as traders awaited data on U.S. crude inventories.
West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery rose 69 cents, or 1.7%, to finish at $41.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after trading as low as $40.14. October Brent crude ended with a gain of 28 cents, or 0.6%, at $44.43 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
Forex
Major currencies were firmer against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro rose from lows near US$1.1720 to highs near US$1.1802 and was near US$1.1795 at the US close. The Aussie dollar rose from lows near US71.14 cents to highs near US71.66 cents and was near US71.60 cents at the US close. The Japanese yen rose from 106.18 yen per US dollar to JPY105.63 and was near JPY105.73 at the US close.
European Markets
European sharemarkets edged lower on Tuesday with the panEuropean STOXX 600 index down by 0.1%. The world’s largest spirit maker Diageo’s shares slid by 5.6% after it reported a bigger-thanexpected decline in underlying sales. But BP shares rose 6.5% even as it cut its dividend for the first time in a decade and recorded a US$6.7 billion quarterly loss. The German Dax index lost 0.4%. But the UK FTSE index rose by 0.1%. In London trade, shares in Rio Tinto fell by 0.7% and shares in BHP rose by 0.4%.
Asian Markets
Earlier in the day in Asia, the Nikkei Stock Average extended early gains to close 1.7% higher at 22573.66, amid improved sentiment that a recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic may be on the way. Investors are likely to focus the rising U.S.-China tensions.
Mainland Chinese stocks ended the session amid mixed trading, as investors continued to stay on the sidelines after the market’s strong gains in early July. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.1% to 3371.69, extending an upturn for the third consecutive session. However, both the Shenzhen Composite Index and the startup-heavy ChiNext Price Index weakened, declining 0.7% to 2300.50 and losing 1.3% to 2832.84, respectively.
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