• In US economic data, pending home sales rose 3.4% in April to nine year highs. Pending home sales is now up 14% on a year ago. US jobless claims rose by 7,000 to 282,000 last week.
  • European shares fell on Thursday, as concerns over Greece's debt problems hurts stocks. Greece has to repay €1.5 billion to the IMF next week. Athens benchmark ATG index closed down 1.7%. However technology stocks received a boost on M&A activity in the sector. The STOXX 600 European technology index rose 0.9%. The FTSEurofirst 300 fell by 0.5% with the German Dax down by 0.8% while the UK FTSE gained 0.1%. Mining shares were mixed in London trade with BHP Billiton down by 0.2% while Rio Tinto rose by 0.1%.
  • US sharemarkets eased on Thursday amid concerns about the upcoming Greek debt repayment deadline. Nine of the 10 major S&P 500 sectors were lower. Industrial stocks lost ground with the sector down 0.7%. Caterpillar fell 2.2% and was the biggest drag on the Dow Jones. Abercrombie & Fitch rose by 11.4% after upbeat forecasts for the rest of the year. The Dow Jones fell by 37 points or 0.2% with the S&P 500 index down by 0.1% while the Nasdaq lost almost 9 points or 0.2%.
  • US short-term treasury prices rose on Thursday driven by new supply and investors locking in recent profits. Treasury sold $29 billion in 7-year notes which was met with strong demand. US 2 year yields fell by 4 points to 0.629% while US 10 year yields were flat at 2.135%.
  • Major currencies continued to ease against the US dollar over European and US sessions. The Euro hit early lows near US$1.0875 before lifting to US$1.0955 and ended US trade around US$1.0945. The Aussie dollar fell from highs near US77.05c to around US76.20c before ending US trade near US76.45c. And the Japanese yen weakened from near 123.60 yen per US dollar to JPY124.40 and was around JPY123.95 at the US close.
  • World oil prices rose on Thursday for the first time in three sessions. A sharp drawdown in US crude stockpiles was the catalyst for the lift in prices. US crude oil inventories fell by 2.8 million barrels last week - ahead of the summer driving season. It was the fourth straight decline in weekly stockpiles. Brent crude rose by US52c or 0.8% to US$62.58 a barrel while US Nymex crude rose by US17c to US$57.68 a barrel.
  • Base metal prices were firmer on the London Metal Exchange on Wednesday with the exception of tin (down 0.3%) and nickel (down 0.1%). The Comex gold futures price rose by US$2.50 an ounce to US$1,188.10 per ounce. Iron ore fell by US30c or 0.5% on Thursday to US$62.30 a tonne.
Ahead: In Australia, new home sales and private sector credit are released. In the US, March quarter GDP is expected.
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