US markets were stronger in the month, with the Dow Jones up +5.8% and S&P 500 up +6.9%.
Long-dated U.S. treasury yieldswere higher, with the 2-Yr yield at 0.50% and 10-Yr yield at 1.55%.
EUROPEAN MARKETS
European markets were higher with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index up +4.6%, UK FTSE up +2.1% and German DAX up +2.8%.
ASIAN MARKETS
Asian markets were lower, as IMF cut its growth forecast for the Asia-Pacific region for 2021 by -110bps to 6.5% due to a surge of the delta variant of Covid-19 and lagging vaccinations, however, upgraded 2022 forecast by +40bps to 4.9%. The Nikkei was down -1.9% and KOSPI declined -3.2%. The Shanghai Composite declined -0.6%, as worries over rising contagion risk from the debt crisis at Evergrande Group, energy crisis in China and government’s crackdown on industries weighed on sentiment.
COMMODITIES
Over the month, WTI oil price gained +11.9% to US$83.57/bbl, after OPEC+ forecast a tighter oil market with world oil inventories declining by an average of 1.1m barrels a day in 4Q21 vs prior reduction forecast of 670,000 barrels a day and IEA forecast turbulence in gas and oil markets to continue amid inadequate investments by energy companies, leading to deepening of already a sizable supply deficit in crude markets. Iron ore prices declined -8.4% to US $110.28 per tonne, whilst spot gold gained +1.5% to US$1,783 per ounce.
