Stocks continued to climb higher this morning with the Dow Industrials up another 0.4% as the Wall Street Journal reported “stocks were lifted by rallying bank and energy shares and optimism on progress on U.S.-China trade negotiations.”
In New York, NYMEX crude oil futures were up to around $57 per barrel, with Reuters reporting “Oil prices rose more than 1% on Monday, buoyed by an improved outlook for crude demand as better-than-expected U.S. jobs growth added to market hopes a preliminary U.S.-China trade deal would be reached this month.” In London, base metal prices were mixed with LME 3-mo. copper and aluminum advancing to around $5,883/mt and $1,810/mt, respectively, while LME 3-mo. nickel dropped by $445 to $16,325/mt. In foreign exchange trading the dollar was firmer against most major rivals as the euro slipped to $1.113 and the British pound eased to $1.288.
