A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – The Dow Jones industrial average has climbed to a nine-month high in a market buoyed by Hasbro and Disney, as investors braced for a flurry of quarterly earnings reports through the week.
Chevron added 1.51 per cent as crude oil prices steadied from earlier losses caused by the collapse of talks among major producers to tackle a stubborn global surplus.
A recent rebound in oil and signs that the US economy is slowly improving have helped stocks rally from a steep selloff earlier this year that had pushed the S&P 500 down as much as 10.5 per cent.
Helped as well by a US Federal Reserve showing little eagerness to raise interest rates, the index is now up two per cent in 2016 and only about two per cent short of its all-time high.
The Dow breached 18,000 on Monday for the first time since July 21.
“It’s an agreeable, tame Fed that’s not always whooping and hollering about the threat of higher interest rates,” said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa.
“The lack of an ever-present threat of higher interest rates has a lot of people feeling a lot better.”
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.6 per cent to end the day at 18,004.16 points and the S&P 500 gained 0.65 per cent to 2,094.34.
The Nasdaq Composite added 0.44 per cent to 4,960.02.
LONDON – UK shares have come under pressure after major oil producers failed to reach an agreement to freeze output over the weekend, sending shares in commodities-related stocks lower.
Oil & gas companies were among the top sectoral fallers after a deal to freeze oil output by OPEC and non-OPEC producers broke down on Sunday, sending oil prices tumbling.
British oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and BP fell 2.9 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively, taking around 14 points off the index together.
“The fall in oil prices is sparking profit-taking as a marked slide in crude raises the question of whether BP and Shell will be able to maintain their dividend payments if oil remains lower for longer,” Russ Mould, AJ Bell Investment director, said in a note.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index on Monday retreated 0.5 per cent, falling to 6,312.54 points by 0812 GMT (1812 AEST), broadly in line with the wider European market.
HONG KONG – A dive in oil prices has sent stock markets lower after a producers’ meeting in Qatar failed to agree on a plan to curb global supply, quashing the more optimistic tone that had prevailed for much of the past week.
Japan’s Nikkei index led the way on Monday, tumbling more than three per cent after a devastating earthquake in the southwest of the country, with signs from a summit in Washington that other Group of 20 governments oppose intervention to weaken the yen also playing a role.
Losses in Hong Kong and Shanghai ranged around one per cent and oil prices were down three per cent, pushing US crude below $US40 for the first time in a week.
“Energy and equity markets were flashing red this morning, as were commodity currencies like the Canadian and Australian dollars,” Societe Generale analysts wrote in a morning note.
“But the scale of the carnage has lessened since London trading opened.”
WELLINGTON – The S&P/NZX 50 Index gained 6.46 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 6,851.2.
