US dollar weakened on Monday after the weaker-than-expected U.S. home sales data (-11.5% in September) were released with the US dollar index, a measure of the dollar value against the basket of six major currencies, falling 0.2% from its 10-week high. Trade volume on US stock exchanges was 16% lower the 20-day average of 7.3bn stocks. S&P 500 dipped 0.19% mainly dragged down by the energy sector (-2.52%) and basic materials (-0.96%). Chesapeake Energy Corp (N:CHK) stocks lost 8.94%, Range Resources (N:RRC) lost 7.34%, Consol Energy Inc lost 6.74% on dropping oil prices. Exxon (N:XOM) stocks lost 2.1% and Chevron (N:CVX) declined 2.7% on the news the global fuel storage sites close to capacity. Apple Inc (O:AAPL). stocks slumped 3.2% ahead of its quarterly earnings. This month S&P 500 sky-rocketed 7.9% so the market is consolidating now, according to the analysts. Dow Jones Industrial Average live chart shows the index lost 0.13% while NASDAQ Composite rose 0.06%. The Nasdaq top performer was Ctripcom International Ltd (O:CTRP) stocks that surged 22.1% on the news of its merger with Qunar Cymn Islnd (O:QUNR). Pep Boys-Manny Moe & Jack (N:PBY) stocks shot 23.4% on the news it agreed to be acquired by Bridgestone. Today in the US the August durable goods orders are expected to come out, the tentative outlook is positive. At 14:00 CET several Case-Shiller US home price indices will be released. At 14:45 CET the Markit US August Composite PMI and preliminary October Services PMI will come out. At 15:00 CET the preliminary October consumer confidence will be released, it is expected to remain unchanged.
The European stock market was in decline on Monday as the markets played out the effect of the rate cut in China. EUR/USD pair was nearly flat at 1.1018 adding 0.1%. FTSEEurofirst 300 dropped 0.41%, CAC 40 fell 0.2%. Meanwhile, the better-than-expected IFO business climate survey came out in Germany supporting the national market and the confidence in the European locomotive economy. This resulted in DAX 30 index rising 0.1% yesterday. It lost 12% since April due to the Volkswagen (DE:VOWG) scandal and China’s slowdown and analysts believe it is being oversold now and has potential of further growth. Trade volumes on the EU exchanges were modest being a quarter lower than the 90-day average volume for the FTSEurofirst 300. Peugeot SA (PA:PEUP) stocks slid 3.6% down despite its positive earnings report as markets reacted on a sharp decline in the carmaker’s sales in Asia. Philips Kon (N:PHG) stocks were in red losing 0.4% as the U.S. opposed the sale of its subsidiary Lumileds producing light bulbs. On Monday British pound pulled back from its 12-day low against the dollar as the latter weakened on weak US statistics. Today at 10:30 CET the UK GDP for the 3rd quarter will be released, the tentative outlook is neutral.
Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.7% on Monday while USD/JPY dipped 0.4% to 120.98 yen. In China stocks were nearly flat on expectations policymakers in major economies will not tighten their monetary policy. The Shanghai Composite Index edged 0.5% up.
On Monday Brent crude oil price fell 0.63% to $47.24 a barrel while Light Sweet crude fell 1.18% to $43.46 due to the data on the U.S. commercial crude stocks have been increasing for a 5th consecutive week fuelling glut worries. Gold futures decreased 0.1% to 1165.8 a troy ounce. Copper added 0.81% on COMEX exchange. Last week aluminum slid down to hit a fresh 6-year low of $1479 a tonne and continued to extend losses yesterday. The metal prices are depressed due to its excessive production in rivalrous China and the US.