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European stocks traded mixed on Monday, but with the main index inching toward a fresh record on Monday, led by commodity-related stocks. U.S. equity futures were also mixed, as investors took the view that last week’s disappointing jobs data will lead to lower-for-longer interest rates.
Following a mixed Asian session, the Stoxx Europe 600 index
SXXP,
was flat at 445.32, after hitting a fresh closing high on Friday of 444.93. The German DAX
DAX,
and French CAC 40
PX1,
indexes were both flat and the FTSE 100 index
UKX,
rose 0.2%.
The pound
GBPUSD,
pushed above a key level at $1.4063 on Monday, after the Scottish National Party, the main party in Scotland pushing for independence, fell one seat short of securing an overall majority. The euro
EURUSD,
was flat.
Read: Scotland independence vote ‘a matter of when, not if,’ says Nicola Sturgeon
S&P 500
ES00,
and Dow industrials
YM00,
futures rose modestly, while Nasdaq-100 futures
NQ00,
fell. The S&P
SPX,
and Dow
DJIA,
logged fresh closing highs on Friday, while the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
also gained. A 266,000 April nonfarm payrolls gain marked the biggest missed forecast for economists’ predictions for those data since the 1990s, as many expected the month would see one million gains.
Investors will be looking ahead to U.S. consumer prices for April on Wednesday.
Shares of major oil companies climbed, with those of BP
BP,
BP,
and Royal Dutch Shell
RDS.A,
RDSA,
up over 2% each and Total
TOT,
FP,
up around 1.5%. That is as oil prices rose following a ransomware attack on a key fuel line in the U.S. operated by Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline, which delivers around 45% of fuel used by the East Coast. Under such an attack, hackers paralyze computer systems and networks of a company, demanding a ransom to reverse that.
Futures for June crude oil futures
CLM21,
and international benchmark Brent crude
BRNN21,
rose 0.6% each to $65.30 and $68.68 a barrel, respectively.
Elsewhere, mining stocks rose as iron ore futures surged in Singapore past $226 a ton, boosted by demand from China and a general recovery for the global economy. Iron-ore prices also surged last week. July copper futures
HGN21,
climbed another 2.5% to $4.8665 a pound, after closing at a record high on Friday at nearly $4.75 a pound. Copper prices rose 6.3% last week, the biggest weekly jump since the week ended Feb. 19.
Shares of Rio Tinto
RIO,
RIO,
surged 4% and BHP Group
BHP,
BHP,
climbed 3.8%.
Shares of MAN
MAN,
soared 30%, after Traton
8TRA,
said on Saturday it would pay €70.68 ($85.96) a share to squeeze out minority shareholders of the truck-and-bus manufacturer. Volkswagen
VOW3,
VOW,
-owned Traton, which is a commercial vehicle producer, said the offer has been sent to MAN’s board and was being reviewed by a court-appointed auditor. MAN shares closed at €55.50 on Friday
