Australian Stock Market Report - Morning June 22, 2015

In US economic data the weekly Economic Cycle Research Institute index rose at a 1% annualised pace in the latest week, up from 0.9% in the previous week.

European shares were mixed on Friday. Investors continued to watch progress on Greek debt negotiations. European leaders are scheduled to hold an emergency summit on Monday to discuss Greek debt proposals. The FTSEurofirst 300 rose by 0.3% but the German Dax was down by 0.5% while the UK FTSE was up by less than 0.1%. And mining shares were lower in London trade with BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both down by 0.6%.

US sharemarkets fell on Friday as investors squared positions ahead of the weekend and Monday's summit by European leaders to discuss the Greek debt situation. The Dow Jones fell by 99.9 points or 0.6% with the S&P 500 index down by 0.5% while the Nasdaq fell from record highs, down 16 points or 0.3%. Over the week the Dow gained 0.6%, the S&P 500 rose 1.7% and the Nasdaq rose by 1.3%.

US treasury prices were higher on Friday (yields lower) as investors favoured safe-haven assets ahead of Monday's European leaders summit to discuss the Greek debt crisis. US 2 year yields were down by 2 points to 0.62% while US 10 year yields were down by 8 points to near 2.26%. Over the week US 2 year yields fell by 8.5 points and US 10 year yields fell by 10.5 points.

Major currencies were mixed against the US dollar in US and European trade. The euro rose from lows near US$1.1295 to highs around US$1.1365 and ended US trade around US$1.1355. The Aussie dollar held between US77.35c to highs around US77.75c before ending US trade near US77.70c. And the Japanese yen strengthened from 123.21 yen per US dollar to JPY122.56 before ending US trade around JPY122.65 at the US close. This morning the euro is near US$1.1370, Aussie near US77.55c and yen near JPY122.98 per US dollar.

World oil prices fell for the first time in four days on Friday in response to profit-taking, worries about Greek debt negotiations and weaker oil product prices. Brent crude fell by US$1.24 or 1.9% to US$63.02 a barrel while US Nymex crude fell by US84c or 1.4% to US$59.61 a barrel. Over the week Brent fell 1.3% and Nymex fell 0.5%.

Base metal prices were lower by up to 1.2% on the London Metal Exchange on Friday. Copper was down the most but tin bucked the trend, up by 0.2%. Over the week prices fell by between 2.9-4.3%. But tin rose by 4.3%. The Comex gold futures price fell by just US10 cents to US$1,201.90 per ounce. Over the week gold rose by US$22.70 an ounce or 1.9%. Iron ore was down US20c on Friday to US$60.70 a tonne. Over the week iron ore fell by US$4.30 or 7.1%.

Ahead: In Australia, no major economic data is scheduled. In the US, existing home sales data is released.

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