The Australian share market is expected to open fairly even today, though it is still near record high levels.
Over on Wall Street, the markets continued to rise, extending Friday’s rally.
Trumped-up expectations
The surge was driven by growing expectations of a second Trump presidency following the weekend’s failed assassination attempt, which bolstered hopes for a more lenient regulatory environment.
Perhaps as the reality looms in coming months, the downside of such a presidency will start to hit investors – his proposed tariffs on imports spring to mind.
Trump pal Elon Musk endorsed the former president and lo and behold, Tesla shares climbed 1.8%.
Along with all this trumped-up enthusiasm, the prospect of the US Federal Reserve reducing its key interest rate as early as September further enhanced investor confidence.
Goldman Sachs' second-quarter profit more than doubled, surpassing analyst expectations due to strong debt underwriting and fixed-income trading, leading to a 2.6% increase in its shares.
Apple reached a new high, up 1.7%, after reporting a 33% increase in India sales to a record US$8 billion for the fiscal year ending in March.
The Dow Jones rose by 211 points or 0.5%, the S&P 500 gained 0.3%, and the Nasdaq added 74 points or 0.4%, all hitting new intraday record highs.
European markets decline
European share markets faced declines on Monday on the back of disappointing updates from luxury companies, which dampened investor sentiment.
A gauge of the top 10 European luxury stocks fell nearly 3%, with the personal and household goods sector leading losses among major sectors, dropping 2.4%.
Burberry shares plummeted 16.1% after the British luxury group issued a profit warning, scrapped its dividend and replaced its CEO Jonathan Akeroyd with former Coach boss Joshua Schulman.
Overall, the continent-wide FTSEurofirst 300 index lost 1% and the UK FTSE 100 index slid 0.9%.
Currencies and commodities
Currencies showed mixed performance against the US dollar in European and US trade.
The Euro rose from US$1.0883 to US$1.0920, ending near US$1.0895 at the US close. The Australian dollar fell from 67.88 US cents to 67.51 US cents, stabilising near 67.60 US cents at close of play. The Japanese yen strengthened from 158.20 yen per US dollar to JPY157.42, closing near JPY158.00.
Global oil prices eased on Monday due to concerns about demand in China, which overshadowed support from OPEC+ supply restraint and ongoing tensions in the Middle East.
Brent crude fell by 18 US cents or 0.2% to US$84.85 a barrel, while the US Nymex crude price decreased by 30 US cents or 0.4% to US$81.91 a barrel.
Base metal prices also ended lower, with copper futures sliding 1.5% due to weak demand prospects in China, heightened by slow economic growth, weak lending numbers and rising inventories. Aluminium futures dipped 1.1%.
Gold futures lifted US$8.20 or 0.3% to near two-month highs of US$2,428.90 ounce yesterday.
Spot gold was trading near US$2,422 an ounce at the US close.
Iron ore futures rose by 9 US cents or 0.1% to US$109.67 a tonne on Monday, underpinned by growing bets top consumer China will unveil more stimulus in its third plenum this week after a batch of economic data disappointed investors.
What’s happening in small caps?
The Small Ordinaries closed at 3,065 overnight, down 0.01% from the previous day.
Making news in small caps, which you can read about throughout the day on Proactive:
- Great Boulder Resources Ltd (ASX:GBR) is planning an exploration program to accelerate resource growth at the company’s flagship Side Well Gold Project near Meekatharra in Western Australia.
- Stellar Resources Ltd (ASX:SRZ, OTC:SLROF) has kicked off an extensive infill and extensional drill program at the Heemskirk Tin Project, in Western Tasmania.
- Predictive Discovery Ltd (ASX:PDI, OTC:PDIYF) has fielded further drilling results from the NEB and BC area of its 5.38-million-ounce Bankan Gold Project in Guinea and has an update on the permitting process.
- Intra Energy Corporation Ltd (ASX:IEC) says track and drill pad preparation is underway at the Maggie Hays Hill Project, in the Lake Johnston Greenstone Belt, spanning a 2.5- kilometre-long southern pegmatite lithium target and the central and northern gold targets.
- Rumble Resources Ltd (ASX:RTR, OTC:RTRFF) has received initial results from a diamond and RC drilling program to test continuity of multiple high-grade gold zones beneath the Western Queen South and along strike of the Western Queen Central deposits.