Australia wasn’t alone with our market off 2.5% in October – Wall Street also suffered losses as did Hong Kong. Tokyo rose by nearly 6% in a solid performance, but gold eased, as did oil.
And our market will start November down around 10 points or so on the ASX 200 after weak leads from offshore markets.
The Aussie dollar was up by just over a half a cent over the month as it continues to trade in the narrow 75-77 US cent range.
Sharp losses for oil prices knocked markets lower or sideways and the falls told on Wall Street where earlier gains were erased by the close of trading.
The S&P 500 slipped a tiny 0.2 of a point to close at 2,126.15 after the index had been up by as many as 7 points and down by nearly a point during the session.
The Dow eased 18 points, or 0.1%, to close at 18,142.42.The Dow had been up by as many as 32 points in the session and down by as many as 31.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed less than a point lower at 5,189.13, after having been up 17 points earlier and down by as many as 4.
For the month, the Dow fell 0.9%, the S&P 500 lost 1.9% and the Nasdaq shed 2.3%.
For the Dow and the S&P 500, it was the third straight monthly loss.
In New York, West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery fell $1.84, or 3.8%, to end at $US46.86 a barrel, while in London December Brent crude futures Ldropped $US1.41, or 2.8%, to end at $48.30 a barrel.
It was the lowest close for both grades since September 27 when OPEC announced it was looking to strike a production cut or cap by November 30. Prices jumped by around 13% in the wake of that announcement and have all but disappeared.
Meetings last weekend proved inconclusive and priced slid sharply yesterday and last night with sharp losses. As a result the Brent crude lost 1.5% for the month and West Texas crude fell 3.1%.
Comex gold futures for December delivery eased $US2.50, or 0.2%, to $US1,274.30 an ounce. December silver rose 1.9 cents, or 0.1%, to $US17.815 an ounce. Gold lost around 3.3% in October, silver though slumped more than 7%.
Comex copper for December delivery was rose 1.4 cents, or 0.6%, to $US2.2075 a pound and was around a cent lower over the month. Across the Atlantic, the pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 0.5% on Monday, leaving it down 1.2 per cent for October as a whole. London’s FTSE 100 index fell 0.6% on Monday to close at 6,954.22, trimming its gain for October to 0.8%.
The benchmark ASX200 Index and the broader All Ordinaries Index each closed 0.6% higher to 5317.7 points and 5402.4 points respectively.
The ASX 200 Index fell 2.5% last month.
MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan hit a six-week low on Monday before rising by 0.3%. It ended the month down 1.6%. Japan’s Nikkei, which hit a six-month high on Friday, eased 0.1% on Monday, but was up 5.9% last month in one of the standout performances around the world.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended little changed on Monday, but fell 1.6% in October, ending three-months of gains.
Chinese stocks ended slightly lower as sentiment was dampened by warnings from top policymakers about asset bubbles.
The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.1%, to 3,336.28, while the Shanghai Composite Index eased 0.1% to 3,100.49 points.
For the month, the CSI was up 2.6%, while the SSEC was up 3.2%, which also stood out.
