European Close Market Briefing – 09/05/2017 – by Arjun Lakhanpal

In European Equity Markets a raft of well-received updates and a recovery in resources stocks helped stocks rebound on Tuesday from the previous session’s slight losses, ending at fresh 21-month highs. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.45 percent while France’s CAC 40 index gained 0.3 percent, recouping some of its losses from Monday following centrist Emmanuel Macron’s French presidential election victory. Denmark’s payment services provider Nets rose 2.9 percent following its first-quarter earnings, which saw strong organic growth. Britain’s Micro Focus slumped 5.6 percent after saying that revenue at Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, the U.S. company it is buying, fell around 10 percent in the last quarter.

In Currency Markets the dollar rose to nearly two-month highs against the yen on Tuesday as risk appetite improved following the French election and investors focused on monetary policy and potential upcoming Federal Reserve interest rate hikes. In late morning trading, the dollar was up 0.7 percent against the yen at 114.08 yen, after earlier hitting its highest level since mid-March. The euro also rose against the yen, up 0.5 percent at 124.27 yen. The euro was last up 0.4 percent at 1.0949 francs, while the dollar rose 0.6 percent to 1.0051 francs. The euro fell back below $1.09, down 0.3 percent, falling from six-month highs hit after Emmanuel Macron’s victory in the French presidential election on Sunday.

In Commodities Markets oil prices fell on Tuesday, rattled by concern over slowing demand, a rising U.S. dollar and increasing U.S. crude output that has shaken investors’ faith in the ability of OPEC to rebalance the market. Brent futures were down 1.1 percent, at $48.79 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 1.1 percent, at $45.90. The spot gold price was down 0.8 percent at $1,215.81 an ounce. In other precious metals, silver was down 1 percent at $16.07 an ounce, after falling to $16.01, the lowest since Jan. 3. Platinum was 1.9 percent lower at $898.98 and palladium was down 1.6 percent at $794.40 an ounce.

In US Equity Markets  the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq trimmed gains after touching record highs for the second straight day on Tuesday as a rise in technology shares were offset by a fall in energy stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.01 percent, at 21,010.95, the S&P 500 was up 0.03 percent, at 2,400.23 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.39 percent, at 6,126.34. Shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals jumped more than 21 percent after the company posted its first profit in six quarters. Endo International, Office Depot and Marriott also rose after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings. Wayfair rose to an all-time high of $62.65 after the online furniture retailer revenue beat analysts’ expectations.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields climbed on Tuesday, with benchmark yields reaching a five-week peak before a $24 billion auction of a three-year government debt issue in what will be the first leg of this week’s $62 billion quarterly refunding. In early trading on Tuesday, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was up nearly 3 basis points at 2.403 percent, just below a five-year high of 2.405 percent set earlier in the session. The 30-year bond yield was up about 2 basis points at 3.033 percent.