[ad_1]
© Reuters. File photo: On June 21, 2021, a man looks at an electronic board displaying the Nikkei index outside a brokerage company in the business district of Tokyo, Japan. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Authors: Tom Arnold and Kevin Buckland
LONDON/TOKYO (Reuters)-As concerns about the Delta variant of COVID-19 offset the surge in business activity in the Eurozone and the positive sentiment from the U.S. employment report, global stock markets on Monday approached record highs.
The STOXX index of 600 major European companies was flat, reversing the previous decline after data showed that euro zone companies expanded their activities in June at the fastest pace in 15 years.
The activity of British service companies also surged in June, but at a slight slowdown.
The French stock market fell 0.4% as Health Minister Olivier Veran warned that France could usher in a fourth wave of pandemic due to the highly spreading delta virus.
After the surge in infections in the weeks leading up to the Tokyo Olympics, COVID-19 anxiety also put pressure on the Japanese stock market, which fell 0.6% to a two-week low.
The MSCI Asia Pacific’s broadest index outside of Japan remained flat.
China’s blue chip index recovered from its earlier decline and closed up 0.1%, as Beijing promised to continue to provide policy support for its technology industry, which will help alleviate people’s blow to ride-hailing giant Didi Global and other Chinese platforms The company is concerned about the review.
The MSCI Global All Countries Index closed at a record 724.66 points last week and rose 0.1% on Monday.
As the US market was closed due to the extended weekend on July 4, the trading volume was less than usual.
James Athey, director of investment at Aberdeen Standard Investments, said: “In general, the market is still struggling to find a foothold.”
“Of course, the stock market continues to dismiss or ignore anything that might be considered negative because they continue to dance cheerfully and complacently toward the inevitable liquidation.”
The index opened on Tuesday down 0.1%, and on Friday the index closed up 0.8%, a record high. The 0.4% increase and the 0.8% increase also hit record highs. ()
Data on Friday showed that the number of non-agricultural employment in the United States increased by 850,000 last month, exceeding expectations. But the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose from 5.8% to 5.9%, while the closely watched average hourly wage (a measure of wage inflation) rose by 0.3% last month, which was lower than the widely expected 0.4%.
Tapas Strickland, an analyst at National Australia Bank (OTC:), wrote in a client report: “Blonde printing shows that there is no need to speed up the timetable for gradual reductions or implied increases. Information overview.”
“In general, the number of employed people is still 6.8 million below the level before the February 2020 pandemic, and still below the level where the Fed needs to make substantial progress. Therefore, nothing in this report makes the Fed hawkish. “
The minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting last month will attract people’s attention. At that time, policymakers issued signals to raise interest rates twice by the end of 2023, which surprised the market.
Since then, Fed officials’ comments have become more balanced, especially Chairman Jerome Powell. Investors analyzed the news released on Wednesday to obtain further clues about the timing of policy tightening.
Eurozone government bond yields rose slightly, but analysts expect the recent downward trajectory to resume after the release of US employment data.
The yield on German 10-year bonds rose 0.5 basis points to -0.231%.
Suppressed by the weak details of the US non-agricultural report, the U.S. dollar fell behind last weekend’s three-month high and was basically flat on Monday.
The U.S. dollar rose about 0.2% against the euro to 1.1859 U.S. dollars, unchanged at 111.05 yen.
Gold rose 0.3% to $1,792.30 per ounce.
With the delay of OPEC+ negotiations, crude oil prices fluctuate in a range. Saudi Arabia’s energy minister opposed the Gulf oil producer’s opposition to the proposed OPEC+ agreement on Sunday, and called for “compromise and rationality” to reach an agreement when the organization reconvenes on Monday.
It rose 0.1% to US$76.21 per barrel, and rose 0.1% to US$75.25 per barrel. [O/R]
[ad_2]
Source link
