Wall Street indexes edge higher
Europe's STOXX up 0.5%
Oil prices gain
U.S. dollar, safe-haven gold advance
Investors await Fed June meeting minutes, non-farmpayrolls data
(Updates throughout with U.S. markets)
Global stocks edged higher in choppy trading on Monday, while U.S. Treasury yields rose following France's historic elections and ahead of a string of economic data this week that could provide clues on the likelihood of Federal Reserve interest rate cut.
The French far right took a smaller-than-expected lead in the first round of voting, suggesting a hung parliament could result and hamper the party's agenda. European stocks .STOXX finished up 0.31%, while the euro EUR=EBS rose 0.13% following the vote.
Investors will be eyeing remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday, followed by minutes from the Fed's latest policy meeting on Wednesday and U.S. non-farm payrolls data due on Friday. The Fed in June projected just one rate cut in 2024.
"The French elections result wasn't as bad (as expected) and sometimes positioning matters," said Wasif Latif, president and chief investment officer at Sarmaya Partners.
"There's going to be a big week for payrolls even though they're shortened trading so liquidity might be a little bit low as we head into the weekend," Latif added.
The MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS , which tracks shares in nearly 50 countries, was up 0.05% after paring losses. In Asia, the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS closed down 0.05%
Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields rose to their highest since mid-June at the start of a holiday-shortened week that will likely be marked by low trading volumes. The yield on the note US10YT=RR rose to 4.4732%.
CHOPPY SESSION On Wall Street, all three major indexes were trading higher in a choppy session led by gains in technology and consumer discretionary stocks. Real estate, materials and industrials equities were the biggest losers.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 0.11% to 39,163.69, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.08% to 5,464.75 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 0.43% to 17,809.62.
Oil prices rose, helped by expected peak summer consumption and OPEC+ production cuts, though gains were capped by rising output from other producers and caution over potential market volatility ahead of pending elections.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose 1.4% to $86.21 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were up 1.52% at $82.82.
The dollar advanced after moving a touch lower against a basket of currencies, following the rise in the euro amid the French elections. The dollar index =USD was up 0.22% at 105.96.
The dollar was initially lower after data from the Institute for Supply Management on Monday showed U.S. manufacturing contracted for a third straight month in June.
Gold prices edged higher. Spot gold XAU= added 0.13% to $2,328.74 an ounce, while U.S. gold futures GCc1 fell 0.03% to $2,327.00 an ounce.
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