The truce in the trade battle between the U.S. and China announced over the weekend gave markets a boost in early trading as the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index gained 2.2% while the major commodity indexes were up anywhere from 0.4% - 1.0% this morning.
Crude oil prices were firmer ahead of the OPEC meetings in Vienna this week as NYMEX crude oil futures touched $60 per barrel this morning. In London, nonferrous metal prices were mixed with LME 3-mo. copper and aluminum trading up around $6,025/mt and $1,805/mt, respectively, this morning, while LME 3-mo. nickel fell as low as $12,365/mt after SHFE nickel futures settled 0.8% lower earlier today. In foreign exchange trading the euro and British pound dipped to around $1.135 and $1.265, respectively, this morning, while the greenback was buying 108.3 Japanese yen.
