Market Update & Important Indicators:
U.S. stock indexes edged lower intraday as oil prices fell to their lowest levels of the year, pressuring the shares of energy companies. Stock losses were broad, pulling nine of the S&P 500's 11 sectors lower for the day. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were on course to post declines after both indexes climbed to fresh closing records Monday. Energy stocks in the S&P 500 fell 1.3%, deepening losses for the index's worst-performing sector of the year. Fresh fears over increasing supply sent U.S. crude oil down 2.7% to $43.24 a barrel, around its lowest levels since November. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 62 points to 21,467. The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.4%, and the S&P 500 was down 0.7% at 2,437. The U.S. gold price hovered around the flat line shedding 0.1% to finish at 1,242.60 US$/oz.
European stocks ended lower, reversing gains as oil prices sank toward bear-market territory, taking energy-related shares with them. The Stoxx Europe 600 slid 0.7% to close at 389.21, retreating from gains logged Monday that left the index at its highest since June 5. The Stoxx Europe 600 Oil and Gas Index was shoved 2.2% lower, losing the most since November as West Texas Intermediate oil futures and Brent crude futures swung lower by about 3%. WTI prices, trading below $44 a barrel, are down roughly 20% from their most recent high. Worries about oversupply in the global oil market persist even after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major oil producers in May agreed to keep curbing production into the first quarter of 2018.
In Asia, tech stocks climbed after Monday's recovery in the U.S. The Nikkei logged its highest finish since August 2015, driven by solid corporate earnings, as earlier concerns recede about geopolitical uncertainty in East Asia. Taiwan's Taiex rose 0.7% whilst Korea's Kospi index was overall down 0.1%. In Hong Kong and China, investors were waiting for a decision after the close of U.S. stock trading on whether index firm MSCI will include some shares traded in mainland China in its widely followed emerging-markets index. The Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite indexes inched down 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively. Thailand's benchmark SET Index closed 0.2% lower amid profit booking on some stocks that had gained in recent sessions. The benchmark ended 2.52 points lower at 1578.62.
Australian shares snapped two straight sessions of gains as banks and energy companies led broad selling, sending the stock market down to a more than one-week low. Sentiment in the financial sector soured after the federal government passed a new tax on the largest lenders' liabilities and Moody's Investors Service downgraded its credit rating on a clutch of banks, including the big four lenders, to Aa3, citing elevated risks among households from rising real-estate indebtedness. Energy stocks also faced heavy selling as crude oil prices held steady near seven-month lows in Asian trading. Finishing at its lows for the day, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 47.9 points, or 0.8%, to 5757.3.
The London Metal Exchange's three-month copper contract closed 1.17% lower on Tuesday at $5,657/t. The other base metals finished mixed. Lead prices dropped 0.1% to 2,105/t, nickel prices shed 2.1% to 8,769/t whilst tin prices fell 0.3% to 19,625/t. Bucking the trend was aluminium prices which jumped 0.1% to 1,877/t. Zinc prices finished flat for the day at 2,545/t.
Recent Contacts & Presentations:
Great Boulder Resources Ltd (GBR), Finders Resources Ltd (FND), Bionomics Ltd (BNO), Threat Protect Australia Ltd (TPS), Ramelius Resources Ltd (RMS), Zenith Energy Ltd (ZEN), Blackham Resources Ltd (BLK), Top End Minerals Ltd (TND), Northern Star Resources Ltd (NST), Xanadu Mines Ltd (XAM), Dacian Gold (DCN), Egan Street Resources Ltd (EGA), Alice Queen Ltd (AQX), Paringa Resources Ltd (PNL), AWE Limited (AWE), Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd (SAR), Red River Resources Ltd (RVR), Vital Metals Ltd (VML), Prairie Mining Ltd (PDZ), Hotcopper Holdings Ltd (HOT), Resolute Mining Ltd (RSG), Botanix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (BOT), Pantoro Ltd (PNR)
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