Global shares were on track for a second straight day of gains yesterday with oil prices plummeting further as market sentiment was lifted by the easing of Middle East tensions, after Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire.
US President Donald Trump had announced on Monday that Israel and Iran had reached a ceasefire to end their 12-day-old war. But both sides accused each other of violating the truce yesterday, sparking an extraordinary outburst from Trump.
On Wall Street, the three main indexes were trading higher, with the biggest gains in financials, technology, communication services, and consumer discretionary stocks. Energy shares were the main drag.
European shares were up 1 per cent, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan jumped 2.4pc overnight. MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 1.11pc to 899.97, trading near a record high reached on June 11.
“Markets are cheering what is looking to be a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, which means no major impact to supply of oil to global markets,” said Talley Leger, chief market strategist at the Wealth Consulting Group. “Risk assets, including equities in general and cyclical pro-economy sectors of the market more specifically, have been rallying. Defensives and safe-haven assets have also been ebbing, which is consistent with what we’ve been saying and what we know historically.”
Brent Crude futures were down 4.87pc at $67.99 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 4.89pc to $65.17. Both contracts had settled down more than 7pc in the previous session, having rallied to five-month highs after the US attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities over the weekend.
The US dollar declined against major currencies including safe-haven Japanese yen and Swiss franc following the truce. The euro gained.
The dollar weakened 1.07pc to 144.57 against the Japanese yen and dropped 0.97pc to 0.805 against the Swiss franc . The euro was up 0.45pc at $1.1628.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.45pc to 97.80.
The yield on benchmark US 10-year notes fell 1.6 basis points to 4.306pc. The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, fell 1 basis point to 3.819pc. Germany’s long-term government bond yields rose after the cabinet passed a draft budget for 2025. The yield on the benchmark German 10-year Bunds rose 2.4 basis points to 2.53pc.
Gold prices fell. Spot gold fell 1.8pc to $3,307.87 an ounce. US gold futures fell 2.27pc to $3,301.00 an ounce.
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