Opening Call: The Australian share market is to open lower.
U.S stocks were lower, as all three major indexes continued Monday’s decline. The 10-year Treasury note yield edged down to 1.562% from 1.599% on Monday. The WSJ Dollar Index was up 0.17% to 86.12. Oil prices ended lower on India’s weaker demand prospects and news on an anti-OPEC bill. Gold prices ended higher amid a retreat in bond yields.
Australian Market
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.7% lower as nearly every sector lost ground.
The tech, health, energy and financial sectors led losses as the benchmark fell for the first time in six sessions.
US Market
U.S. stocks slipped, extending their losses as investors assess blue-chip companies’ profits and sales prospects.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.8% while the S&P 500 fell 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.9%. All three indexes declined Monday, breaking a recent winning streak.
Commodities
Gold futures settled higher, getting a lift from a retreat in Treasury yields, although prices failed to recoup their loss from the previous session.
June gold rose $7.80, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,778.40 an ounce, after declining 0.5% a day ago. Prices on Friday had settled at $1,780.20, their highest since Feb. 24.
Oil Futures
Oil futures ended lower as record cases of Covid-19 in India dimmed the outlook for the nation’s economy and energy demand.
West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery fell by 1.5% to settle at $62.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, on the contract’s expiration day.
June Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 0.7% at $66.50 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
Prices also declined on apparent progress in Iran’s nuclear deal negotiations and after the U.S. House Judiciary Committee cleared a bill that would leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries open to antitrust lawsuits over production cuts.
Forex
Major currencies were mixed against the US dollar in European and US trade. The Euro fell from highs near US$1.2080 to lows near US$1.2020 and was near US$1.2030 at the US close. The Aussie dollar fell from highs near US78.15 cents to lows near US77.10 cents and was near US77.20 cents at the US close. But the Japanese yen rose from 108.50 yen per US dollar to JPY108.00 and was near JPY108.10 at the US close.
European Markets
European share markets fell on Tuesday, dragged lower by weakness in tobacco stocks. Reuters notes that “shares in British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands fell more than 7% each following a report the Biden administration was considering requiring tobacco companies to lower the nicotine levels in all cigarettes sold in the United States.” The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell by 1.9% – the biggest fall this year. Travel & leisure, banks and insurers led the falls. The German Dax index lost 1.6% and the UK FTSE 100 index was down by 2.0%. In London trade shares in Rio Tinto fell by 2.2% while shares in BHP fell by 2.3%.
Asian Markets
The Nikkei Stock Average ended broadly lower as concerns grow about additional Covid-19 countermeasures. The Nikkei fell 2.0%.
China’s major stock benchmarks ended the session lower. The Shanghai Composite, Shenzhen Composite Index and ChiNext Price Index all finished down 0.1%.
Elsewhere, New Zealand’s NZX-50 index closed 0.7% lower, dragged down by losses in power utilities and several other key stocks. Volatility in power utilities is expected to ease now that a months-long saga involving reweighting of a clean-energy index is over, but rising bond yields remain a headwind.