German factory orders unexpectedly fell 3.7% in May
Asian equities were mixed on Tuesday despite oil prices rallied to fresh long-term highs just beyond the $78 figure after a meeting of OPEC+ countries was postponed. US markets were closed for a public holiday on Monday. Elsewhere, the Reserve Bank of Australia announced a no change to the official cash rate, leaving it at a record low of 0.10% at its monetary policy meeting earlier today. The central bank announced that it plans a third round of bond buying.
Speaking at the post-monetary policy meeting press conference, Phillip Lowe said that the condition for an increase in the cash rate depends upon the data, not the date. Following the announcement, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 finished 0.73% lower. Meanwhile, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.16% and the Shanghai Composite in China shed 0.11%.
In Europe, stocks opened marginally lower on Tuesday. The pan-European Stoxx 600 hovered 0.2% below the flat-line in early trading. On the data front, the German factory orders unexpectedly fell 3.7% in May versus +5.0% expected and -0.2% last. On an annualized basis, industrial orders rose by 54.3% versus 80.2% previous and expected growth of 75.4%.
In currencies, the dollar trimmed early intraday losses during the European session, with EURUSD retreating back into negative territory following a rejection from the 1.1900 barrier. The pair was last seen trading around 1.1850, down 0.12% for the day. On the positive side, Germany July ZEW survey current conditions arrived at 21.9 versus -9.1 prior.
In commodities, Brent crude surged to fresh October 2018 highs around $77.80 before retreating marginally. The rally was fueled by the fact that talks between OPEC and its oil-producing allies were postponed indefinitely. Considering overbought conditions, oil prices could see some profit-taking in the short term.
