A man looks the board of the Australian Securities Exchange ASX in central Sydney August 7, 2013.
A man looks the board of the Australian Securities Exchange in central Sydney August 7, 2013. Reuters/Daniel Munoz
  • In US economic data, new claims for unemployment insurance rose by 15,000 to 297,000 in the latest week, above expectations for a result near 275,000.
  • The Greek Government is expected to send new reform proposals to creditors within hours. And the Greek Government is expected to vote on the proposals late on Thursday night.
  • The Shanghai composite share index rebounded by 5.8% on Thursday with the 'B' share index up 7.4%.
  • European shares rose on Thursday in response to a large rebound on the Chinese sharemarket and on hopes that Greece can secure a new bailout deal. The FTSEurofirst 300 rose by 2.3% with the German Dax also up by 2.3% while the UK FTSE rose by 1.4%. And mining shares were higher in London trade with BHP Billiton up by 1.6% and Rio Tinto gained 1.8%.
  • US sharemarkets rose on Thursday, but finished well off the day's highs. Investors were encouraged by the bounce of Chinese shares but continued to monitor the newsflow of the Greek debt crisis. The New York Stock Exchange said Wednesday's trading halt was the result of problems with new software that was installed the previous evening. The Dow Jones rose by 33 points or 0.4% after being up 249 points in early trade. The S&P 500 rose by 0.2% while the Nasdaq rose by almost 13 points or 0.3%.
  • US treasury prices fell on Thursday (yields higher) as investors trimmed holdings of 'safe haven' bonds, putting the money to work in equities markets instead. Weaker-than-expected economic data limited the losses. US 2 year yields were up by 3 points to 0.585% while US 10 year yields were up by 11 points to 2.305%.
  • Major currencies were generally lower against the greenback after European and US trade. The euro eased from highs near US$1.1115 to lows near US$1.0990 and ended US trade around US$1.1025. The Aussie dollar eased from highs near US74.90c to lows near US74.15c and ended US trade near US74.45c. And the Japanese yen held between 121.20 yen per US dollar and JPY121.56, ending US trade around JPY121.31.
  • World oil prices were higher on Thursday. Investors were heartened by gains on the Chinese sharemarket and hopeful about reform proposals from the Greek government. Brent crude rose by US$1.56 or 2.7% to US$58.61 a barrel while US Nymex crude gained US$1.13 or 2.2% to US$52.78 a barrel.
  • Base metal prices lifted again on Thursday on the London Metal Exchange, up between 0.5-5.0%. Nickel was the best performer while tin was up the least. The Comex gold futures price fell by US4.30 or 0.4% to US$1,159.20 per ounce. Iron ore was up by US$4.20 or 8.7% on Thursday to US$48.30 a tonne.
Ahead: In Australia housing finance data is released. In the US, wholesale sales and inventories data is released.
[Kick off your trading day with our newsletter]
More from IBT Markets:
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox daily