Stocks hover near record highs, oil hits two-year high

Published : 3 years ago, on 07/06/2021

By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK (Reuters) -A gauge of global equity markets hovered off a record peak on Monday as technology shares took in stride a deal by the world’s richest nations on a global minimum corporate tax aimed at the U.S. tech heavyweights and oil prices jumped to a two-year high.

Oil climbed above $72 a barrel, extending this year’s rally built on rising recovery demand and supply curbs from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, before giving up the gains as investors took profits.

U.S. Treasury and euro zone government bond yields edged up in largely subdued trade ahead of a European Central Bank meeting on Thursday, the same day highly anticipated U.S. inflation data will be released.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose 0.4 basis points to yield 1.5636%, at the bottom of a two-month range.

Germany’s 10-year Bund yield was last up 1.3 basis points at -0.197, near a one-month lows hit after Friday’s U.S. unemployment report. The jobs data showed a solid pick-up in hiring but not enough to stir fears of an overheated economy that would lead to tighter U.S. monetary policy.

The big tech firms in the crosshairs of the G7 agreement on Saturday for a minimum global corporate tax rate of at least 15% can at least expect slightly more predictability in their tax obligations in the next few years, said Christopher Smart, chief global strategist at Barings.

A period of unilateral taxes and punitive tariffs from both the United States and European Union has been avoided for the moment, Smart added.

MSCI’s all-country world equity index fell 0.02% to 716.16. The benchmark for global equity markets is heavily weighted to the U.S. tech behemoths, half of which rose and the others fell.

Microsoft Corp rose 0.8% and Facebook Inc 1.4%, while Apple Inc fell 0.7% and Amazon.com Inc 0.4%.

Europe’s broad FTSEurofirst 300 index added 0.29% to end at 1,747.17, a new record close. The continent-wide STOXX 600 index also set a new record close at 453.86.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%, the S&P 500 lost 0.32% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.04%.

Gold prices firmed as the dollar retreated, with the dollar index down 0.2% while the euro was up slightly against the dollar, at $1.2196.

The Japanese yen strengthened 0.23% versus the greenback at 109.24 per dollar.

Brent crude futures fell $0.45 to $71.44 a barrel. U.S. crude futures slid $0.42 to $69.2 a barrel.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.05% and risked a fourth session of losses. Japan’s Nikkei edged up 0.3% and touched its highest in almost a month.

Taiwan stocks lost 0.4% as a spike in COVID-19 cases hit three tech companies in northern Taiwan, including chip packager King Yuan Electronics.

(Reporting by Herbert Lash; Editing by Will Dunham)