A man walks past the London Stock Exchange in the City of London October 11, 2013. Shares in Britain's Royal Mail rocketed to a near 40 percent premium above their issue price in Friday's stock market debut, fuelling a debate about whether they had been p
A man walks past the London Stock Exchange in the City of London October 11, 2013. Shares in Britain's Royal Mail rocketed to a near 40 percent premium above their issue price in Friday's stock market debut, fuelling a debate about whether they had been priced too low in order to guarantee a successful privatisation. Reuters/Stefan Wermuth
A man walks past the London Stock Exchange in the City of London October 11, 2013. Shares in Britain's Royal Mail rocketed to a near 40 percent premium above their issue price in Friday's stock market debut, fuelling a debate about whether they had been priced too low in order to guarantee a successful privatisation. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth (BRITAIN - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS)

* In the US, consumer credit rose by US$15.92 billion in September, above forecasts tipping a US$15.1bn gain. The Employment Trends index rose from 121.7 to 123.09 in October.

* European shares rose on Monday in response to merger and acquisition activity in the food, telecom and oil services sectors. Reuters reported that shares in Portugal Telecom jumped 11.8% to 1.36 euros on Monday following a 1.35 euros a share takeover bid for the company by Angola's richest woman, Isabel dos Santos. The FTSEurofirst 300 index, the UK FTSE and German Dax all rose by 0.7%. In London trade shares in BHP Billiton fell by 0.2% with Rio Tinto down by 0.5%.

* US sharemarkets traded modestly higher on Monday in the absence of major corporate or economic news. Shares in Toll Brothers, the largest U.S. luxury homebuilder, reported a 29% lift inquarterly revenue in response to strong housing demand. Shares in Alibaba rose by 4% on expectations for Singles Day sales - the world's biggest online sales day. At the close of trade the Dow Jones was up by 40 points or 0.2%, the S&P 500 index was up by 0.3% and the Nasdaq was up by 19 points or 0.4%.

* US treasury prices fell on Monday (yields higher) in response to a disappointing $26 billion auction of 3-year notes. US Treasury will sell $24 billion in 10-year notes on Wednesday and $16 billion in 30-year bonds on Thursday. US 2 year yields rose by 4 points to 0.543% while US 10 year yields were up by 6 points to 2.36%.

* Major currencies were weaker against the US dollar in European and US trade on Monday. The Euro eased from highs near US$1.2505 to lows near US$1.2420, and was around the lows in late US trade. The Aussie dollar fell from highs near US86.60c to near US86.05c, and was near US86.15c in late US trade. The,Japanese yen weakened from 113.87 yen per US dollar to JPY114.90 and was near JPY114.83 in late US trade.

* World oil prices fell again on Monday as the US dollar strengthened. A stronger greenback weakens the purchasing power for European and Asian buyers for dollar-denominated commodities. And OPEC oil producers aren't expected to reduce production to support prices when they meet later this month. Brent crude fell by US$1.05 or 1.3% to US$82.34 a barrel. US Nymex crude price fell by US$1.25 or 1.6% to US$77.40 a barrel.

* Base metal prices were largely lower on the London Metal Exchange on Monday, falling by up to 1.2%. But lead went against the trend, up 0.1%. Gold fell on Monday in response a stronger US dollar with Comex gold futures down by US$10 an ounce or 0.9% to US$1,159.80 per ounce. Iron ore was unchanged at US$75.50 a tonne on Monday.

Ahead: In Australia, the NAB business survey is released with the Roy Morgan consumer sentiment survey and the ABS home price series. In the US, data on weekly chain store sales is released with the NFIB business optimism index is issued.

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