A box with text 'Frankfurt stock exchange' is pictured in front of the German share price index DAX board at the Frankfurt stock exchange, January 15, 2015.
IN PHOTO: A box with text 'Frankfurt stock exchange' is pictured in front of the German share price index DAX board at the Frankfurt stock exchange, January 15, 2015. Global markets were thrown into turmoil on Thursday as a shock move by Switzerland to abandon its three-year cap on the franc sent the currency soaring and Europe's shares and bond yields tumbling. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
  • In US economic data, weekly claims for unemployment insurance rose by 10,000 to 274,000 in the latest week (forecast: 271,000). Existing home sales fell 3.3% to a 5.04 million annual rate in April (forecast: 5.24m). The leading index rose by 0.7% in April (forecast: +0.3%). The Philadelphia Federal Reserve survey eased from +7.5 to +6.7 in May. And the Markit flash manufacturing index eased from 54.1 to 53.8 in May (forecast: 54.5).
  • European shares rose on Thursday after investors were generally positive after assessing manufacturing activity data. The French flash manufacturing index rose from 50.6 to 51.0 in April and the German index fell from 54.1 to 52.8. The FTSEurofirst 300 rose by 0.4% with the German Dax and UK FTSE both up by 0.1%. Mining shares were higher in London trade with BHP Billiton up by 0.6% while Rio Tinto rose by 0.2%.
  • US sharemarkets held in tight ranges again on Thursday as investors geared up for the Memorial Day long weekend. The Dow Jones held in a 65 point range over the session and ended higher by 0.3 points or less than 0.1% with the S&P 500 index up by 0.2% to record highs while the Nasdaq rose by 19 points or 0.4%.
  • US long-term treasury prices rose again on Thursday (yields lower) after investors concluded that mixed economic data meant that official interest rates were unlikely to rise in the short term. US 2 year yields fell by 2 points to 0.577% while US 10 year yields fell by 6 points to 2.19%.
  • Major currencies eased from highs against the US dollar in US and European trade on Thursday. The Euro rose from lows near US$1.1085 to highs near US$1.1180 and eased to around US$1.1110 in late US trade. The Aussie dollar fell from highs near US79.10c to lows around US78.70c before ending US trade near US78.90c. And the Japanese yen eased from near 120.84 yen per US dollar to JPY121.24 and was around JPY121.00 at the US close.
  • World oil prices rose on Thursday on reports of tighter supplies. Thomson Reuters reports: "Inventories of U.S. crude in Cushing, Oklahoma fell by almost 740,000 barrels between Friday and Tuesday, trade sources said, citing a report by market intelligence firm Genscape." Brent crude rose by US$1.51 or 2.3% to US$66.54 a barrel while US Nymex crude rose by US$1.74 or 3.0% to US$60.72 a barrel.
  • Base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed on Thursday. Lead rose by 2.2% and copper rose 0.6% but other metals fell up to 1.5%, led by tin. The Comex gold futures price fell by US$4.60 an ounce to US$1,204.10 per ounce. Iron ore fell by US20c or 0.3% on Thursday to US$57.60 a tonne.
Ahead: In Australia, no major events are scheduled. In the US, data on consumer prices is released.
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