Indices Slump Worldwide, 6-Year Lows for Copper & Aluminium, US Crude Below $40 a Barrel
August 24, 2015 6:30 am
US stocks collapsed during Friday’s session as the slowdown in China, the commodity rout and the threat of the Fed raising interest rates gripped the market. Taken altogether, this had the effect of causing the Dow to slump to its biggest daily drop in four years, leaving the index more than 10% off its May high. The Dow fell 530 points to close the week at 16,459, while the S&P 500 fell 64 points to close at 1,970. Meanwhile, the tough US session was felt with full force in the Asian markets this morning; the Shanghai Composite closed down by an eye-watering 8.49%, whilst the Nikkei ended 4.61% lower. At the time of writing the Hang Seng is still open, but the news is hardly more cheerful – it’s currently down by just over 5%. European markets are also suffering this morning; the FTSE is currently down by 2.56%, whilst on the continent the DAX and CAC are both down, by 2.97% and 3.34% respectively.
In the currency markets, the Euro climbed as high as $1.1496, its highest level since February. It last stood at $1.1480, up 0.9% on the day. USD was down 0.8% at 121.00 Yen after hitting a six-week low of 120.73. The Aussie fell to a six-year low of $0.7201.
U.S. crude was down 2.6% at $39.39 a barrel while Brent lost 2.1% to $44.52 a barrel. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange reached a six-year low of $4,935 a tonne. Aluminium also slid to its lowest level since 2009, trading at $1,540 a tonne. Spot Gold is trading at 1150.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, stocks are down across the board this morning, but the mining companies appear to be feeling it more than most. BHP and Glencore are both down by more than 5%, whilst Rio Tinto is currently not far behind, trading down by around 4.6%.
US stocks collapsed during Friday’s session as the slowdown in China, the commodity rout and the threat of the Fed raising interest rates gripped the market. Taken altogether, this had the effect of causing the Dow to slump to its biggest daily drop in four years, leaving the index more than 10% off its May high. The Dow fell 530 points to close the week at 16,459, while the S&P 500 fell 64 points to close at 1,970. Meanwhile, the tough US session was felt with full force in the Asian markets this morning; the Shanghai Composite closed down by an eye-watering 8.49%, whilst the Nikkei ended 4.61% lower. At the time of writing the Hang Seng is still open, but the news is hardly more cheerful – it’s currently down by just over 5%. European markets are also suffering this morning; the FTSE is currently down by 2.56%, whilst on the continent the DAX and CAC are both down, by 2.97% and 3.34% respectively.
In the currency markets, the Euro climbed as high as $1.1496, its highest level since February. It last stood at $1.1480, up 0.9% on the day. USD was down 0.8% at 121.00 Yen after hitting a six-week low of 120.73. The Aussie fell to a six-year low of $0.7201.
U.S. crude was down 2.6% at $39.39 a barrel while Brent lost 2.1% to $44.52 a barrel. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange reached a six-year low of $4,935 a tonne. Aluminium also slid to its lowest level since 2009, trading at $1,540 a tonne. Spot Gold is trading at 1150.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, stocks are down across the board this morning, but the mining companies appear to be feeling it more than most. BHP and Glencore are both down by more than 5%, whilst Rio Tinto is currently not far behind, trading down by around 4.6%.
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