European Close Market Briefing – 30/06/2017 – by Arjun Lakhanpal

In European Equity Markets stocks edged higher Friday, with technology and consumer-related shares on the mend after a hefty selloff, but the region’s benchmark was still on track to finish June in the red. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.3 percent to 381.62, with industrial, telecom and financial shares printing gains. But oil and gas, basic material and health care stocks were losing ground.  Shares of Bayer AG were knocked back 4.4 percent after the German pharmaceuticals and chemicals heavyweight warned earnings would take a hit because of unexpectedly high inventories at its operations in Brazil. Oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and BP were down 1.3 percent and 1.6 percent respectively, while miner Glencore also fell 1.4 percent.

In Currency Markets the U.S. dollar recovered slightly on Friday but remained set for its biggest quarterly decline against a basket of rival currencies in nearly seven years after hawkish signals from foreign central banks this week pressured the greenback further. The dollar index was last up 0.1 percent at 95.727, while the euro was down 0.2 percent against the dollar at $1.1412. The dollar fell against the Canadian dollar, however, and was last at C$1.2985 after touching a nearly 10-month low of C$1.2948 earlier. Sterling lost 0.29 percent to $1.2968, still close to a six-week high of $1.3030 overnight. The Australian dollar was little changed, with Aussie at $0.7680, while Kiwi gained 0.36 percent to $0.7325.

In Commodities Markets oil prices headed higher for a seventh-straight session Friday, poised for their longest streak of gains since August as investors weighed prospects for further declines in U.S. crude production. August West Texas Intermediate crude added 0.7 percent, at $45.24 a barrel. August Brent crude rose 0.4 percent, to $47.59 a barrel.  Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,244.40 an ounce, while U.S. gold futures for August delivery were $1.70 an ounce lower at $1,244.10. Among other precious metals, silver was up 0.3 percent at $16.64 an ounce. Palladium was down 0.3 percent at $844.75 an ounce on Friday, while platinum was flat at $919.75.

In US Equity Markets  the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were higher in late morning trading on Friday, boosted by Nike’s decision to sell on Amazon, while the Nasdaq was little changed as a recovery in tech stocks sputtered. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3 percent, at 21,350.45, the S&P 500  was up 0.19 percent, at 2,424.49. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.08 percent, at 6,149.31. Nike shares rose as much as 9.4 percent to a three-month high after the world’s largest footwear maker said it would launch a pilot program with Amazon.com to sell a limited product assortment on its website. Micron reversed gains to fall 4 percent even after the chipmaker forecast better-than-expected profit and revenue for fourth quarter

In Bond Markets  U.S. Treasury yields rose after U.S. inflation data was largely in line with expectations and seen as unlikely to delay the Federal Reserve’s expected interest rate hike path.  Yields on benchmark 10-year notes touched their highest since May 17 in earlier trading. Germany’s benchmark 10-year bond yield rose to its highest since mid-March and was set for its biggest weekly gain since 2015, backed by increased expectations for tighter monetary policy from the ECB.