S&P 500 and NASDAQ advance while Dow slips
US stocks closed higher on Monday led by gains in technology and materials stocks. The dollar edged higher adding to Friday’s gains after stronger than expected June jobs report: the live dollar index data show the ICE US Dollar index, a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six rival currencies, gained 0.1% to 96.056. S&P 500 added 0.1% settling at 2427.43. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped less than 0.1% to 21408.52, with a 2.8% drop in Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) shares outweighing gains in Visa and Nike (NYSE:NKE). The NASDAQ composite index rose 0.4% closing at 6176.39.
German stocks lead European markets
European stock indices finished higher on Monday led by German shares after upbeat exports data. Both the euro and British pound ended extended losses against the dollar. The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.4%. The DAX 30 closed 0.5% higher at 12445.92. France’sCAC 40 gained 0.4% and UK’s FTSE 100 added 0.3% to 7370.03. European stocks opened 0.1% - 0.3% higher today.
Asian stocks mixed
Asian stock indices are mostly mixed today as investors await Fed Chair Yellen’s testimony on monetary policy on Wednesday. Nikkei closed 0.6% higher at 20195.48 as yen weakness against the dollar continued, with yen hitting four-month low.
Chinese stocks are lower: the Shanghai Composite Index is down 0.3%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is 1.6% higher. Australia’s ASX All Ordinaries is up 0.1% despite continued rise in Australian dollar against the greenback.
Oil up on strong US demand expectations
Oil Futures prices are extending gains today on strong demand outlook for coming weeks. Prices got a lift from a Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE:BAC) report weekly US gasoline demand data "compares favorably to the five-year average and miles driven also continue to grow year-on-year."
Prices ended higher previous day on talks Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is considering putting a cap on how much oil Nigeria and Libya can produce. The two members were exempt from the OPEC agreement among major oil producers to cut around 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of production between January this year and March 2018. However OPEC exported 25.92 million bpd in June, 450,000 bpd more than in May as Nigeria and Libya increased output. September Brent crude gained 0.4% settling at $47.06 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange on Monday.