European Close Market Briefing – 07/07/2017 – by Arjun Lakhanpal

In European Equity Markets stocks fell on Friday but eked out slight gains for the week as the market sought a floor following a sell-off sparked by expectations of tightening monetary conditions. The STOXX 600 index fell 0.2 percent but remained above the 11-week low hit in the previous session, when ECB minutes showed the euro zone rate-setters had left the door open to scrapping its bond-buying pledge. Carrefour was down 5 percent as concern over profit margins overshadowed stronger-than-expected sales growth at the world’s second-largest retailer. Rate-sensitive utilities rose 0.6 percent, as market talk of possible takeover interest in Centrica helped the sector rebound following losses due to expectations over rising rates in the region.

In Currency Markets the dollar gained across the board on Friday in choppy trading after a report showed the U.S. economy created far more jobs than expected in June and the previous months, keeping the Fed on track to raise interest rates at least once this year. The dollar initially weakened to 113.54 yen following the jobs report from 113.74 yen  minutes before the data’s release, as investors focused mostly on the inflation implications of the average earnings growth. It was last at 113.88, up 0.6 percent. The euro, on the other hand, rose to around $1.1430, from $1.1411 ahead of the jobs report, and was last at $1.1395, down 0.2 percent. Sterling fell to a more than one-week low of $1.2871 and was last down 0.7 percent at $1.2882.

In Commodities Markets oil prices fell more than 3 percent on Friday after data showed U.S. production rose last week just as OPEC exports hit a 2017 high, casting doubt over efforts by producers to curb global oversupply. Benchmark Brent futures were down 3.2 percent, at $46.56 a barrel, after falling to $46.28, the cheapest in more than a week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures traded at $44.05 a barrel, down 3.2 percent, also the lowest in over a week. Spot gold was down 0.7 percent to $1,215.81 per ounce and silver fell 1.3 percent to $15.80 per ounce. Palladium fell 0.3 percent to $832.25 per ounce after hitting its lowest since June 2 earlier in the session. Platinum lost 0.8 percent to $902.74 per ounce.

In US Equity Markets stocks  extended gains in late morning trading on Friday, powered by robust jobs data and a rebound in technology stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.28 percent, at 21,379.55 and the S&P 500 was up 0.33 percent, at 2,417.92. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.67 percent, at 6,130.44. Eight of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, with the tech index’s 1.04 percent rise leading the gainers. Apple, Microsoft and Facebook gave the biggest boost to the S&P and the Nasdaq. Shares of Bank of America, JPMorgan and Citigroup were flat after having risen about 0.8 percent in early trading. Goldman Sachs fell 0.5 percent. Chevron fell 0.8 percent, while Exxon was off 0.25 percent.

In Bond Markets most U.S. Treasury yields rose on Friday, with longer-dated yields briefly hitting multi-week highs, after mixed details of a U.S. June employment report did not derail expectations of tighter global central bank monetary policy. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields hit a more than eight-week high of 2.396 percent and 30-year yields hit a more than six-week high of 2.943 percent after the U.S. jobs data.