Sharemarket boomlet back on?
US shares were up 1.6% last week, Japanese shares jumped 2.4% while Chinese shares edged up 0.2%. And the Australian market saw a solid gain of 0.9% with resource shares leading the way.
But Eurozone shares fell 0.2% as Italian shares remained under pressure and some emerging markets remained under pressure though – especially Brazil and Turkey.
Commodity prices also rose and this along with some the stronger first quarter GDP growth of 3.1% (annual) saw the $A rise slightly.
Wall Street saw its third-straight week of gains by the close last Friday despite a tense week that saw the US and its major allies argue over trade issues.
For the week, the S&P 500 rose 1.6% and the Dow climbed 2.8%. The Nasdaq, which closed at a record high on June 6, rose 1.2%.
For both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, it marked their longest weekly winning streaks since late January.
In commodities Comex August gold eased 30 cents to settle at $US1,302.70 an ounce. The metal was up 0.3% over the week. July silver lost 0.4% to $US16.741 an ounce, on Friday for a weekly rise of 1.8%
Comex July copper settled at $US3.30 a pound—the highest settlement for the year so far for a most-active contract. It was up 0.8%for the day and a sharp 6.5% over the week.
US July West Texas Intermediate crude lost 21 cents, or 0.3%, to end at $US65.74 a barrel for a weekly loss of 0.1% based on Friday’s close for WTI. That was the third weekly decline in a row, according to FactSet.
In Europe August Brent crude, shed 86 cents, or 1.1%, to $US76.46 a barrel, finishing down 0.4% for the week. Brent has fallen in two of the past three weeks.
