By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, June 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks followed their world counterparts higher on Monday, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq snapping five-day losing streaks and the blue-chip Dow notching an all-time closing high as the U.S. and Iran halted attacks and took steps toward de-escalation.
I will go into more detail on today's market moves below. If you have more time to read, here are a few articles I recommend to help you make sense of what happened in markets today.
1. Comcast will split
into two publicly traded companies through a spinoff of NBCUniversal and Sky
2. A record-breaking heat wave continued to move through Europe as the United States faces its own spate of dangerously high temperatures
3. Iranian and U.S. teams working on implementation of an interim peace deal are expected to meet in Doha after mutual airstrikes over the weekend threatened the fragile truce
4. Asian markets were choppy on Monday as investors weighed AI-driven growth against inflationary pressures
5. Five days after twin earthquakes struck Venezuela, killing close to 1,500 people, some areas have yet to receive government help with rescue and recovery efforts
6. Britain's soon-to-be Prime Minister Andy Burnham vowed on Monday to implement radical change in the nation's politics by handing more power to its regions and stressing collaboration over argument
Today's Key Market Moves
• STOCKS: Wall Street rebounded; European shares were steady as Middle East peace process eyed
• SECTORS/SHARES: Comcast shares surged on news of NBCUniversal spinoff, chip stocks bounced back
• FX: The dollar slipped but remained near 13-month high; the yen touched its weakest level since 1986
• BONDS: U.S. Treasury yields inched higher as focus turned to jobs data
• COMMODITIES/METALS: U.S. WTI crude and Brent settled up 2.2% and 1.6%, respectively; gold dropped on renewed inflation/rate hike jitters
Today's Talking Points
* The Supreme Court issues major rulings as term winds down
On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a Republican challenge to the five-day grace period for mail-in ballots in Mississippi, backed President Donald Trump's firing of a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission, but blocked the president's dismissal of a member of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
Decisions yet to be announced include a state crackdown on transgender athletes and an executive order to limit birthright citizenship.
* A surge of oil exports from the Middle East following the Strait of Hormuz reopening creating chaos in markets
A steep slide of Brent crude prices back to pre-war levels might suggest a return to business as usual, but as the system reboots amid a race to liberate trapped supply, and inbound tankers wait to rush in and load outbound oil, the return to normal is unlikely to be smooth.
Add to the mix the U.S. suspension of most sanctions limiting Iran's oil exports, which is expected to result in Tehran ramping up production, markets are preparing for a supply flood.
* Bankers are getting creative as AI-related debt soars
With borrowing on chips, cloud infrastructure and data centers accounting for close to 15% of investment grade bond issuance this year, hyperscalers are increasingly issuing debt in currencies other than the U.S. dollar to tap a wider pool of investors. Companies such as Amazon.com and Alphabet have issued $60 billion in bonds in multiple currencies this year.
The transactions have reshaped global bond markets and set new records for bond sales in euros, sterling and yen.
What could move markets tomorrow?
• Developments in the Middle East
• Energy market moves
• Social media posts from Trump
• U.S. Supreme Court rulings
• Japanese yen intervention
• Japan housing starts/construction orders (May)
• Germany retail sales (May)
• Germany import prices (May)
• Germany unemployment (June)
• UK Q1 GDP
• Sweden retail sales (May)
• Denmark Q1 GDP
• Denmark unemployment rate (May)
• France consumer spending (May)
• France CPI (June)
• France producer prices (May)
• Italy CPI (June)
• Italy producer prices (May)
• U.S. Case-Shiller home prices (April)
• U.S. consumer confidence (June)
• U.S. JOLTS (May)
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Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.
(Reporting by Stephen Culp)
