EU markets trade higher as US & UK markets closed

EU markets traded higher on a quiet news day as the US & UK markets were closed for public holidays.

The broader European Stoxx 600 closed 0.32 per cent. Germany’s Dax and France’s CAC finished the day around 0.4 per cent higher. Italy’s FTSE MIB and Spain’s Ibex 35 were up around 0.7 per cent. Car makers and Utilities were the best performers.

UK markets were closed for the May bank holiday, with US markets shut for Memorial Day.

Commentary from several ECB figures suggested a June rate cut was on the cards for the zone. Continued confidence that EU inflation is heading towards the 2 per cent target in a consistent way is giving the market hope the ECB may ease monetary policy in June. This would be well ahead of expected US easing which normally leads the way.

There are no major earnings or data releases due Monday. Later in the week, traders will be looking to euro zone inflation figures for May due on Friday.

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, said on Sunday that it has raised US$6 billion, helping to close the funding gap with OpenAI, Anthropic and other rivals in the industry. The Company said funds would be used “to take xAI’s first products to market, build advanced infrastructure, and accelerate the research and development of future technologies,”. Musk, who founded xAI in July, said in a social media post that the funding round valued the company at US$18 billion, not including the new money.

In the Asia-Pacific region, markets were higher as industrial profits in China rose during the first four months of the year, according to official data. China’s industrial profits rose 4.3 per cent year on year in the January to April period, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

In commodities news, oil rebounded with the focus on an OPEC+ supply meeting on Sunday and US demand at the start of the summer driving season.

Australian shares are poised to rise on Tuesday’s as investors look to April retail sales data due out at 11.30am AEST.

Futures

The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.1 per cent gain.

Currency

One Australian dollar at 7.30am was buying 66.55 US cents.

Commodities

Gold has gained 0.76 per cent. Silver has jumped 4.41 per cent. Copper has added 1.60 per cent. Oil has risen 1.07 per cent.

Figures around the globe

European markets closed mixed. London’s FTSE was closed, Frankfurt added 0.44 per cent, and Paris closed 0.46 per cent higher..

Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.66 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.17 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 1.14 per cent higher.

Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 0.79 per cent higher at 7,788.31.

Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.

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