A man looks the board of the Australian Securities Exchange ASX in central Sydney August 7, 2013.
A man looks the board of the Australian Securities Exchange in central Sydney August 7, 2013. Reuters/Daniel Munoz
  • In US economic data, personal spending rose by 0.9% in May, above forecasts for a gain of 0.5% gain and the biggest rise in almost six years. Personal income rose by 0.5%, in line with forecasts. New claims for unemployment insurance rose by 4,000 in the latest week to 271,000. And the "flash" services index eased from 56.2 to 54.8 in June.
  • A meeting of eurozone finance ministers failed to reach a debt agreement with Greece and talks will continue on Saturday.
  • European shares were mixed on Thursday as investors monitored Greek debt talks. Telecom stocks rose on merger and acquisition activity. The FTSEurofirst 300 fell by 0.3% with the German Dax up less than 0.1% while the UK FTSE eased by 0.5%. And mining shares were lower in London trade with BHP Billiton down by 2.7% and Rio Tinto lost 1.7%.
  • US sharemarkets drifted lower on disappointment that Greece and its creditors have still not been able to secure an agreement. But takeover speculation continued in the healthcare sector. The Dow Jones ended trade at the day's lows, down by almost 76 points or 0.4%, after trading in a 146 point range. The S&P 500 index eased 0.3% while the Nasdaq fell by 10 points or 0.2%.
  • US treasury prices were slightly higher on Thursday (yields lower). Greek debt talks dragged on. Economic data was mixed. And traders cited solid demand for an auction of $29 billion of seven-year notes. US 2 year yields were steady near 0.69% while US 10 year yields were down by 2 points to near 2.39%.
  • Major currencies held in trading ranges over European and US trade. The euro held between US$1.1155 and US$1.1225 and ended US trade around US$1.1200. The Aussie dollar held between US77.20c and US77.50c and ended US trade near US77.40c. And the Japanese yen held between 123.34 yen per US dollar and JPY123.79 before ending US trade around JPY123.62.
  • World oil prices fell on Thursday. US economic data was mixed and uncertainty about a Greek debt deal continued. Brent crude fell by US29c or 0.5% to US$63.20 a barrel while US Nymex crude fell by US57c or 0.9% to US$59.70 a barrel.
  • Base metal prices were mixed on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday. Aluminium, copper and lead rose up to 0.6% and other metals fell 0.3-1.9% with tin down the most. The Comex gold futures price fell again, down by US$1.10 or 0.1% to US$1,171.80 per ounce. Iron ore was down by US40c or 0.7% on Thursday to US$61.30 a tonne.
Ahead: In Australian no major economic data is scheduled. In the US, consumer sentiment data is released.
[Kick off your trading day with our newsletter]
More from IBT Markets:
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox daily