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Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Monday, as losses in the Technology, Basic Materials and Consumer Goods sectors led shares lower.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.33%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.67%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 1.46%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 1.91% or 4.61 points to trade at 245.99 at the close. Meanwhile, Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) added 1.58% or 0.92 points to end at 59.01 and Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) was up 0.65% or 0.66 points to 101.52 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which fell 3.13% or 5.91 points to trade at 183.09 at the close. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) declined 2.96% or 1.33 points to end at 43.56 and Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) was down 2.03% or 1.72 points to 82.85.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Pacific Gas&Electric Co (NYSE:PCG) which rose 3.88% to 17.68, TechnipFMC PLC (NYSE:FTI) which was up 2.87% to settle at 22.97 and Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) which gained 2.57% to close at 314.58.

The worst performers were Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) which was down 6.00% to 41.95 in late trade, Activision Blizzard Inc (NASDAQ:ATVI) which lost 5.99% to settle at 43.61 and Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) which was down 5.99% to 76.62 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Biocept Inc (NASDAQ:BIOC) which rose 95.12% to 1.600, OUTLOOK THERAPEUTICS INC (NASDAQ:OTLK) which was up 42.86% to settle at 3.00 and Bison Capital Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:XYN) which gained 46.81% to close at 3.45.

The worst performers were Silver Run Acquisition Corporation II (NASDAQ:AMR) which was down 25.14% to 0.13 in late trade, Edison Nation Inc (NASDAQ:EDNT) which lost 18.08% to settle at 2.85 and OncoSec Medical Inc (NASDAQ:ONCS) which was down 16.61% to 0.375 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1916 to 1035 and 127 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1647 fell and 991 advanced, while 89 ended unchanged.

Shares in Silver Run Acquisition Corporation II (NASDAQ:AMR) fell to all time lows; falling 25.14% or 0.04 to 0.13. Shares in Edison Nation Inc (NASDAQ:EDNT) fell to all time lows; falling 18.08% or 0.63 to 2.85. Shares in OncoSec Medical Inc (NASDAQ:ONCS) fell to 5-year lows; falling 16.61% or 0.075 to 0.375.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 2.19% to 16.31.

Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.15% or 1.85 to $1277.55 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 0.57% or 0.36 to hit $63.28 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 0.01% or 0.01 to trade at $72.09 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.01% to 1.1172, while USD/JPY rose 0.02% to 110.08.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.04% at 97.785.

Investing.com - U.S. stocks closed lower on Monday, led by a slump in chip stocks on reports U.S. companies are starting to cut off Huawei supplies following President Donald Trump's ban on the Chinese tech company.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.33%, the S&P 500 fell 0.67%, while the Nasdaq Composite sank 1.46%.

Alphabet's (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google suspended business with Huawei that requires the transfer of hardware, software and technical services, adding credence to fears that other U.S. companies will follow suit and cut ties with the Chinese tech giant, deepening the trade dispute between the U.S. and China.

Following the move from Google, Huawei will be immediately cut off from receiving Android system updates, stifling the tech giant's ambitions to rack up smartphone market share.

The fallout from the ban was seen in semiconductors as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index slid more than 4%, with Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), Skyworks Solutions (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:SWKS), Qorvo (NASDAQ:QRVO), and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) - all of whom count Huawei as a major customer - ending the day nursing deep losses.

The downside in semis was exacerbated by reports that Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Qualcomm and Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) will not supply Huawei until further notice, Bloomberg reported.

With U.S. and China trade relations on the ropes, analysts offered up a bearish outlook on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), sending the iPhone maker's shares 3.13% lower. Apple was the worst Dow performer; Intel was second-worst.

HSBC downgraded its outlook on Apple, warning that if tariffs affect the tech giant's products imported into the U.S., the iPhone maker could be forced to raise prices, denting already weak demand for its pricey phones and lengthening the smartphone upgrade cycle.

Energy stocks, meanwhile, were boosted by a rise in domestic oil prices after Saudi Arabia vowed to continue with production cuts despite numerous demands from Trump to rein in cuts.

In other news, T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS) and Sprint (NYSE:S) bucked the broader trend lower after FCC Chairman Ajit Pai backed a merger between the two companies. But the merger could still be in trouble as the Justice Department is reportedly against the deal as it could harm competition. T-Mobile rose nearly 3.9%; Sprint jumped about 12.5%.

Top S&P 500 Gainers and Losers Today:

TechnipFMC (NYSE:FTI), Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) and Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) were among the top S&P 500 gainers for the session.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS), Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) and Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.

Investing.com -- Bitcoin fell below $8,000 on Monday, struggling to hold gains from a day earlier, as traders anxiously awaited a ruling due tomorrow on a Bitcoin fund that could potentially pave the way for a wave of new funds to enter the market.

Bitcoin fell 3.0% to $7,753, down from a high of $8,269.2.

The Security and Exchange Commission is due to deliver its ruling on the exchanged traded Bitcoin fund, or ETF, proposed by investment management firm VanEc.

But many expect the U.S. financial watchdog to delay its decision again as the final deadline to make a decision is currently slated for Oct. 18.

An unlikely approval of a Bitcoin ETF would allow institutional investors another way to access after the approval of Bitcoin futures in 2017 and is widely expected to spur a wave of new funds into the market.

Bitcoin's struggles to meaningfully breach the $8,000 level comes as analysts' suggested the current popular crypto's current trading reflects the boom and bust period of late 2017.

"Over the past few days, the actual price has moved sharply over marginal cost. This divergence between actual and intrinsic values carries some echoes of the spike higher in late 2017, and at the time this divergence was resolved mostly by a reduction in actual prices," Bloomberg reported, citing JPMorgan’s strategists.

Other cryptos also trended lower, with XRP/USD falling 5.56% to $0.388, ETH/USD down 4.93% to $244.22 and LTC/USD slipping 5.98% to $89.47.

Investing.com -- Apple slumped on Monday, as Wall Street turned bearish on the iPhone maker in the wake of President Donald Trump's decision to hike tariffs on imported products from Beijing.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell more than 3% Monday after HSBC downgraded its outlook on the company, warning that if tariffs affect Apple products imported into the U.S., the iPhone maker could be forced to raise prices, denting already weak demand for its pricey phones and lengthening the smartphone upgrade cycle.

The bank also outlined a risk in the Chinese market, noting that domestic consumers are accelerating the shift to smartphone substitutes by going to local brands with comparable functionality such as Huawei and Xiaomi.

The latest downgrade from HSBC echoed bearish recent notes from other banks, many of whom have also warned that Apple risks losing market share in China amid the hostile U.S.-China trade environment.

"We do not know yet if the retail price of the iPhone will increase in the U.S. However, we see the tariffs impacting Apple’s MacBook component costs,'' Rosenblatt Securities said.

Apple was the biggest loser among the 30 Dow stocks and was responsible 43 points of the Dow's decline. It also contributednearly 25 points to the Nasdaq-100 index's 1.4% decline. The shares are trading nearly 22% below their 52-week high of $233.47 reached on Oct. 3.

Investing.com – U.K. stocks were lower after the close on Monday, as losses in the Forestry&Paper, Industrial Engineering and Electronic&Electrical Equipment sectors led shares lower.

At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 declined 0.54%.

The best performers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Vodafone Group PLC (LON:VOD), which rose 1.71% or 2.12 points to trade at 126.40 at the close. Meanwhile, Imperial Brands PLC (LON:IMB) added 1.18% or 25.50 points to end at 2187.50 and Fresnillo PLC (LON:FRES) was up 0.85% or 6.20 points to 737.20 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Coca Cola HBC AG (LON:CCH), which fell 6.70% or 192.0 points to trade at 2672.0 at the close. Merlin Entertainments PLC (LON:MERL) declined 6.69% or 25.10 points to end at 350.00 and Tui AG (LON:TUIT) was down 6.42% or 53.20 points to 775.00.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the London Stock Exchange by 1431 to 730 and 199 ended unchanged.

Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.07% or 0.95 to $1276.65 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 0.32% or 0.20 to hit $63.12 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 0.14% or 0.10 to trade at $72.11 a barrel.

GBP/USD was up 0.04% to 1.2723, while EUR/GBP rose 0.09% to 0.8777.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.05% at 97.778.

Investing.com – France stocks were lower after the close on Monday, as losses in the Basic Materials, Financials and Utilities sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 fell 1.46%, while the SBF 120 index fell 1.50%.

The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were Orange SA (PA:ORAN), which rose 0.98% or 0.14 points to trade at 13.96 at the close. Meanwhile, Total SA (PA:TOTF) added 0.11% or 0.06 points to end at 49.23 and Engie SA (PA:ENGIE) was down 0.18% or 0.03 points to 13.55 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were STMicroelectronics NV (PA:STM), which fell 9.08% or 1.415 points to trade at 14.170 at the close. Air Liquide SA (PA:AIRP) declined 4.19% or 4.95 points to end at 113.15 and Kering SA (PA:PRTP) was down 3.60% or 18.80 points to 503.20.

The top performers on the SBF 120 were Ipsen SA (PA:IPN) which rose 1.56% to 110.80, Orange SA (PA:ORAN) which was up 0.98% to settle at 13.96 and Dassault Aviation SA (PA:AVMD) which gained 0.56% to close at 1263.00.

The worst performers were STMicroelectronics NV (PA:STM) which was down 9.08% to 14.170 in late trade, Soitec SA (PA:SOIT) which lost 7.56% to settle at 78.300 and Imerys SA (PA:IMTP) which was down 5.67% to 39.58 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 439 to 130 and 75 ended unchanged.

The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was up 16.71% to 16.38.

Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.01% or 0.15 to $1275.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 0.30% or 0.19 to hit $63.11 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 0.12% or 0.09 to trade at $72.12 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.12% to 1.1169, while EUR/GBP rose 0.11% to 0.8779.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.06% at 97.762.

Investing.com – Denmark stocks were lower after the close on Monday, as losses in the Software&Computer Services, Technology and Oil&Gas sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Copenhagen, the OMX Copenhagen 20 declined 0.21%.

The best performers of the session on the OMX Copenhagen 20 were Danske Bank A/S (CO:DANSKE), which rose 2.03% or 2.2 points to trade at 110.7 at the close. Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk A/S Class B (CO:NOVOb) added 1.15% or 3.6 points to end at 316.9 and Oersted A/S (CO:ORSTED) was up 1.07% or 5.60 points to 528.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were AP Moeller - Maersk A/S B (CO:MAERSKb), which fell 4.59% or 366 points to trade at 7616 at the close. Pandora A/S (CO:PNDORA) declined 4.23% or 10.7 points to end at 242.0 and Ambu A/S (CO:AMBUb) was down 3.69% or 4.6 points to 120.0.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange by 78 to 51 and 21 ended unchanged.

Shares in Pandora A/S (CO:PNDORA) fell to 5-year lows; down 4.23% or 10.7 to 242.0. Shares in Oersted A/S (CO:ORSTED) rose to 52-week highs; up 1.07% or 5.60 to 528.00.

Crude oil for July delivery was up 0.48% or 0.30 to $63.22 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in July rose 0.14% or 0.10 to hit $72.31 a barrel, while the June Gold Futures contract rose 0.02% or 0.25 to trade at $1275.95 a troy ounce.

USD/DKK was down 0.06% to 6.6882, while EUR/DKK rose 0.05% to 7.4697.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.06% at 97.762.

Investing.com – Israel stocks were lower after the close on Monday, as losses in the Insurance, Biomed and Technology sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Tel Aviv, the TA 35 lost 0.70%.

The best performers of the session on the TA 35 were Melisron (TASE:MLSR), which rose 3.42% or 580 points to trade at 17560 at the close. Meanwhile, Strauss Group (TASE:STRS) added 2.02% or 189 points to end at 9540 and Azrieli Group Ltd (TASE:AZRG) was up 1.19% or 240 points to 20480 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Liveperson (TASE:LPSN), which fell 3.97% or 420 points to trade at 10160 at the close. Israel Corp (TASE:ILCO) declined 2.93% or 2520 points to end at 83480 and Tower Semiconductor Ltd (TASE:TSEM) was down 2.55% or 152 points to 5799.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange by 250 to 130 and 39 ended unchanged.

Shares in Strauss Group (TASE:STRS) rose to all time highs; up 2.02% or 189 to 9540.

Crude oil for July delivery was up 0.43% or 0.27 to $63.19 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in July rose 0.04% or 0.03 to hit $72.24 a barrel, while the June Gold Futures contract rose 0.01% or 0.15 to trade at $1275.85 a troy ounce.

USD/ILS was up 0.33% to 3.5825, while EUR/ILS rose 0.37% to 4.0009.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.06% at 97.768.

Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was flat on Monday following increased trade tensions after the White House blacklisted Chinese giant Huawei.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.1% to 97.748 as of 10:23 AM ET (14:23 GMT).

Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and other companies announced over the weekend that they have stopped doing business with Huawei, hitting stocks on Wall Street and raising more uncertainty over how trade negotiations between the U.S. and China will pan out.

Meanwhile, tense rhetoric between the U.S. and Iran continue after U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted about the “official end of Iran.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused Trump of distributing “genocidal taunts” in response, adding that the president should “try respect.”

The dollar was down against the safe-haven yen, with USD/JPY falling 0.1% to 109.93. Japan’s economy posted a surprising expansion in the last quarter, but worry over less spending overshadowed the report.

Elsewhere, the euro gained, with EUR/USD up 0.1% to 1.1167 while USD/CAD fell 0.2% to 1.3420. Sterling inched up slightly, with GBP/USD rising 0.1% to 1.2733.

Investing.com – Wall Street fell sharply at the opening on Monday on heightened fears for the tech sector due to the White House’s blacklisting of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei.

The S&P 500 fell 23 points or 0.8% by 9:41 AM ET (13:41 GMT), while the Dow lost 175 points or 0.7%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite suffered most, losing 130 points or 1.7%.

Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) suspended licensing of Android software to Huawei’s smartphones due to the White House ban, while Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) and other semiconductor companies have stopped hardware shipments.

Semiconductors slumped after the open, with Micron (NASDAQ:MU) falling 3.5%, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) down 2.1% and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) slipping 1.8%.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was down 4% after HSBC warned that higher prices for the iPhone creator's products due to an increase in Chinese tariffs could have "dire consequences" on demand. Unconfirmed reports out of China indicated that Beijing may target Apple when it unveils its retaliatory measures.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) lost 6.5% amid concerns over demand for its Model 3, along with financial sustainability and its exposure to Chinese markets in light of recent trade tariff battles with the U.S.

Elsewhere, Sprint Corp (NYSE:S) skyrocketed 26% after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said he would recommend approval of its merger with T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS). The merger is now likely to be approved. T-Mobile jumped 7%, while its parent Deutsche Telekom (OTC:DTEGY) rose 0.6%. The ADRs of Sprint's parent Softbank Group Corp. (OTC:SFTBF) rose 3.5%

In other news, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) was down 0.2% on news that it is eliminating 7,000 jobs worldwide, including 2,300 in North America.

In commodities, gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,276.95 a troy ounce, while crude oil inched up to $62.94. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, dipped 0.1% to 97.752.

Investing.com - NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) fell by 3.05% to trade at $151.78 by 09:40 (13:40 GMT) on Monday on the NASDAQ exchange.

The volume of NVIDIA shares traded since the start of the session was 1.80M. NVIDIA has traded in a range of $151.75 to $154.75 on the day.

The stock has traded at $171.5900 at its highest and $151.5900 at its lowest during the past seven days.

Investing.com - Verizon (NYSE:VZ) rose by 3.09% to trade at $59.89 by 09:35 (13:35 GMT) on Monday on the NYSE exchange.

The volume of Verizon shares traded since the start of the session was 1.25M. Verizon has traded in a range of $58.95 to $59.89 on the day.

The stock has traded at $59.8900 at its highest and $56.1700 at its lowest during the past seven days.

Investing.com - Stocks in focus in premarket trading on Monday:

• Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) stock was down 1.3% by 8:15 AM ET (12:15 GMT) on news that it suspended business with Chinese tech giant Huawei after the White House blacklisted the company.

• Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell 2.4% amid fears that it could be targeted by Chinese authorities for retaliatory trade measures. Unconfirmed reports alleged Beijing may temporarily raise import tariffs on its goods.

• Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock slumped 4.4% after an analyst report at Wedbush raised concerns about demand for its Model 3, CNBC reported. The company is struggling with ongoing concerns about its financial sustainability and is also vulnerable to Chinese trade countermeasures, given that China is the world's biggest market for electric vehicles.

• Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) stock fell 2.4% after the ride-sharing company was sued by investors over its initial public offering. The suit says Lyft misled investors over its market position.

• Boeing (NYSE:BA) stock slipped 1% after it found it couldn’t accurately replicate in a flight simulator the conditions that caused two fatal crashes involving the aircraft model.

• Target (NYSE:TGT) stock fell 0.1% after rising earlier on news that Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) upgraded the company to equal-weight from underweight, according to CNBC.

• Qudian (NYSE:QD) stock surged 4.9% after the Chinese online lender posted strong earnings, with its outstanding loan balance increasing by 91.2% from a year earlier and revenue rising by 22.2%.

Investing.com - Bitcoin slipped lower on Monday, retreating back below the $8,000 level after a late Sunday rally in which it rebounded more than 12% back towards its highest levels of the year.

At 07:04 AM ET (11:04 GMT) Bitcoin was down 1.8% to $7,882.5 on the Investing.com index after rising around 12% from a low of $7,252.3 reached on Sunday.

Early last week prices of the digital currency hit 2019 highs of $8,323.9, nearly double where it was at the beginning of April.

After tumbling from all-time highs of close to $19,900 in December 2017 Bitcoin spent most of the first quarter of 2019 hovering below the $4,000 level before regaining momentum early last month.

Other major cryptocurrencies were also lower, with Ethereum off 2.7% at $249.87, XRP down 2.5% to 0.39673 and Litecoin at $91.548, a drop of 2.8%.

The total crypto market cap, which stands at about $247 billion and is often used to gauge demand, has more than tripled from its December trough.

Bloomberg reported Monday that Bitcoin may have gotten ahead of itself with its recent rally, surging beyond its “intrinsic value,” mirroring a similar move in 2017 which preceded a slump, citing a note written by strategists at JP Morgan on Friday.

“Over the past few days, the actual price has moved sharply over marginal cost,” the note said, according to Bloomberg. “This divergence between actual and intrinsic values carries some echoes of the spike higher in late 2017, and at the time this divergence was resolved mostly by a reduction in actual prices.”

“Defining an intrinsic or fair value for any cryptocurrency is clearly challenging,” the note added, according to Bloomberg. “Indeed, views range from some researchers arguing that it has no fundamental value, to others estimating fair values well in excess of current prices.”

Investing.com - U.S. futures were down on Monday after Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and other technology companies stopped selling to Chinese telecom giant Huawei due to an executive order last week that effectively banned the company from U.S. markets and forced all U.S. companies to require licenses to deal with it.

Google has suspended licensing of Android software to Huawei’s smartphones, while Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) and other semiconductor companies have stopped hardware shipments in a rippling effect across the industry.

Tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures lost 76 points or 1% by 6:40 AM ET (10:40 GMT), while Dow futures slumped 82 points or 0.3% and S&P 500 futures was down 12 points or 0.4%.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has slipped 2% on the news, while chipmakers AMD and Micron (NASDAQ:MU) fell 2.4% and 3%, respectively. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) lost 1.9%, and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) declined 0.8%.

Boeing (NYSE:BA) was down 0.7% after it admitted there were flaws in the 737 Max 8 simulator that it used to train pilots. Boeing has found it couldn’t accurately replicate the conditions that caused two fatal crashes involving the aircraft model.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) continued to decline, falling 4.5% after a report on Friday that the company will cut costs further so as not to fritter away the capital it raised earlier this month. The report has put fresh question marks over Tesla's ability to become financially self-sufficient.

Elsewhere, financial technology company Qudian (NYSE:QD) rose 6% after strong earnings, while Target (NYSE:TGT) was up 1.3% after its limited Vineyard Vines collection sold out within an hour of launch.

In commodities, crude oil rose 0.2% to $63.05 a barrel amid signs of Saudi Arabia and Russia split on whether or not to keep barrels off the market when the current deal on output restraint expires at the end of June. Gold futures fell 0.05% to $1,275.05 a troy ounce, while the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was flat at 97.817.

Investing.com -- The dollar is pushing toward the two-year high it hit in April in early trading in Europe on Monday, after election victories for business-friendly incumbents in Australia and India offset ongoing worries over trade relations between the U.S. and China.

The Aussie dollar has been the big winner over the weekend, rising over 1% against the greenback after Scott Morrison’s Conservatives defied the opinion polls to win parliamentary elections. Morrison immediately signalled he would cut taxes to stimulate the economy, which analysts at Nordea Markets said may push back the date of an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia.

“Morrison’s surprise (or even miracle) victory in the election is another reason for RBA to wait and see, as his alleged tax cuts could come in handy for the Australian economic momentum,” Martin Enlund and Andreas Steno Larsen wrote, noting that RBA Governor Philip Lowe may hint at any monetary policy consequences in a speech on Tuesday.

Before then, the Federal Reserve will have ample time to signal its thoughts regarding the implications of the U.S.-China trade war for its policy outlook. New York Fed Governor John Williams and Kansas City Fed chief Esther George both pushed back against the notion that it would cut interest rates immediately if the economy slows because of recent developments. Williams is due to speak again today, as is Vice-Chair Richard Clarida and Philadelphia Fed chief Patrick Harker. They're just the warm-up act for a keynote speech by Chairman Jerome Powell, however, at 7 PM ET (2300 GMT).

Over the weekend, a number of U.S. tech companies said they had stopped supplying telecom giant Huawei components for its telecom equipment, as a consequence of last week’s ruling by the U.S. administration.

The Chinese yuan has stablilized after last week’s slide but may face renewed pressure in the coming days as Chinese companies accumulate billions of dollars for dividend payments on their U.S.-listed stocks. Bloomberg estimated they’ll need to pay $18.8 billion in dividends by the end of August.

Elsewhere, the dollar has risen slightly against the yen, paradoxically, after better-than-expected Japanese GDP growth figures for the first quarter encouraged risk appetite.

In Europe, sterling is struggling to recover from its slump on the revival of fears over a “hard Brexit” if the Conservative Party ditches Prime Minister Theresa May in favor of a high-profile Brexiteer. It has picked up a little in response to comments by opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn appearing to move closer to endorsing a second referendum, which may reverse the decision to leave the EU.

The euro is likewise treading water at just over $1.1150, still waiting for an elusive improvement in Eurozone economic data and overshadowed by the looming elections to the EU parliament, which may result in further chastisement for Europe’s mainstream political parties.

Investing.com - Shares of the Hong Kong-listed Tencent Holdings Ltd (HK:0700) fell 2.5% on Monday in Asia, after plunging about 7% last week following the release of a weak quarterly earnings report.

Shares in the social media and gaming giant remained on the back foot after it reported a miss on first-quarter revenue and signs of slowing growth in advertising sales, in its latest earnings report last Wednesday.

Sales growth was 16%, the slowest pace since it went public in 2004. Net income recorded a 17% rise, which was better than expected, but the figure was helped by a one-off gain of more than $1.5 billion from the expanding valuations of investments in finance and gaming companies.

The Hang Seng Index was down 0.6% amid news that Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has now suspended some business with Huawei and all Huawei-made phones will immediately lose access to updates to the Android operating system, the world’s most popular smartphone software.

The news sent Chinese and Hong Kong stocks lower as traders are increasingly concerned that the trade war would drag on and further impact the Chinese economy.

Investing.com - Major cryptocurrencies traded in the green on Monday morning in Asia except for Ethereum.

Bitcoin traded 1.07% higher to $8,015 by 12:04 AM ET (04:04 GMT), not far from its 2019 high of $8,306.8 reached last Wednesday.

XRP rose 2.76% to $0.40557 while Litecoin added 0.22% to $92.433. However, Ethereum edged down 1.14% to $254.59.

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) continued to be in focus in the crypto community, with the latest reports suggesting that the social media giant has set up a crypto company in Switzerland.

Registered in Geneva on May 2, the company is dubbed Libra Networks and it correlates with Facebook’s Project Libra. Facebook has yet to disclose any information about this company officially.

The Libra project aims to launch a stablecoin-based payments network. The company reportedly plans to develop its own stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. It is said to be in talks with financial firms and e-commerce players such as Visa (NYSE:V) and MasterCard to support its payment service.

While tech giants are embracing cryptocurrency, the European Central Bank, again, criticised the digital tokens, staying in line with other central banks worldwide.

“Crypto-assets do not fulfil the functions of money and, at the current stage, neither do they entail a tangible impact on the real economy nor have significant implications for monetary policy,” it said in its recently released report.

“The very low number of merchants that allow the purchase of goods and services with Bitcoins indicates no influence of the most prominent crypto-asset on price-setting,” it added.

Investing.com - The Chinese yuan rose against the U.S. dollar on Monday in Asia. In a report published late Friday, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said they would continue with stimulus while keeping the currency steady.

The USD/CNY pair was down 0.1% to 6.9076 by 11:30 PM ET (03:30 GMT).

In its quarterly monetary policy report, the PBOC said “trade friction and uncertainties in global policy could impact the global economy negatively.” The central bank added that inflation could be driven up if the trade war with the U.S. drags on, damaging household and corporate confidence and causing financial market turbulence.

The AUD/USD pair rose 0.7% to 0.6917 in Monday morning after a surprise election victory for incumbent Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

The Aussie sank as low as 0.6868 last week after disappointing domestic employment data added to fears over the prospect of an interest rate by the country's central bank, while the escalation in the Sino-U.S. trade war also sapped risk appetite.

The GBP/USD pair edged up 0.1% to 1.2731. Concerns over Brexit are expected to dominate sentiment on sterling.

Last week, the pound fell to the lowest since January after cross-party Brexit talks collapsed and concern grew about the impact Prime Minister Theresa May’s likely resignation would have on Britain’s exit from the EU.

The USD/JPY pair was up 0.1% to 110.19 after data showing that Japan's first quarter GDP came in at 2.1%, confounding expectations for a contraction of 0.2%. However, traders remained cautious as the expansion was mostly due to imports declining faster than exports, likely reflecting weak domestic demand.

The U.S. dollar index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies was trading near flat at 97.863.

Data on Friday showed U.S. consumer sentiment jumped to a 15-year high in early May on growing confidence over the economy’s outlook, though much of the surge was recorded before the trade war escalation.

Investing.com - Cardano was trading at $0.087637 by 19:23 (23:23 GMT) on the Investing.com Index on Sunday, up 10.06% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage gain since May 19.

The move upwards pushed Cardano's market cap up to $2.27166B, or 0.88% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, Cardano's market cap was $23.91700B.

Cardano had traded in a range of $0.078433 to $0.087780 in the previous twenty-four hours.

Over the past seven days, Cardano has seen a rise in value, as it gained 24.13%. The volume of Cardano traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $144.52191M or 0.17% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $0.0696 to $0.1006 in the past 7 days.

At its current price, Cardano is still down 93.51% from its all-time high of $1.35 set on January 4, 2018.

Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading

Bitcoin was last at $8,204.3 on the Investing.com Index, up 11.48% on the day.

Ethereum was trading at $262.12 on the Investing.com Index, a gain of 10.77%.

Bitcoin's market cap was last at $145.98846B or 56.83% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while Ethereum's market cap totaled $27.95041B or 10.88% of the total cryptocurrency market value.

Investing.com - Bitcoin was trading at $8,128.9 by 18:39 (22:39 GMT) on the Investing.com Index on Sunday, up 10.28% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage gain since May 19.

The move upwards pushed Bitcoin's market cap up to $142.8B, or 56.61% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, Bitcoin's market cap was $241.2B.

Bitcoin had traded in a range of $7,252.3 to $8,128.9 in the previous twenty-four hours.

Over the past seven days, Bitcoin has seen a rise in value, as it gained 15.17%. The volume of Bitcoin traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $24.4B or 29.35% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $6,893.1147 to $8,323.9258 in the past 7 days.

At its current price, Bitcoin is still down 59.09% from its all-time high of $19,870.62 set on December 17, 2017.

Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading

Ethereum was last at $259.98 on the Investing.com Index, up 9.04% on the day.

XRP was trading at $0.42324 on the Investing.com Index, a gain of 11.62%.

Ethereum's market cap was last at $27.4B or 10.86% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while XRP's market cap totaled $17.7B or 7.01% of the total cryptocurrency market value.

Investing.com - XRP was trading at $0.41798 by 17:57 (21:57 GMT) on the Investing.com Index on Sunday, up 10.04% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage gain since May 19.

The move upwards pushed XRP's market cap up to $17.44155B, or 6.91% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, XRP's market cap was $79.53400B.

XRP had traded in a range of $0.37080 to $0.41798 in the previous twenty-four hours.

Over the past seven days, XRP has seen a rise in value, as it gained 32.57%. The volume of XRP traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $2.55565B or 3.07% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $0.3089 to $0.4780 in the past 7 days.

At its current price, XRP is still down 87.30% from its all-time high of $3.29 set on January 4, 2018.

Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading

Bitcoin was last at $8,050.3 on the Investing.com Index, up 8.99% on the day.

Ethereum was trading at $259.61 on the Investing.com Index, a gain of 8.02%.

Bitcoin's market cap was last at $143.03422B or 56.63% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while Ethereum's market cap totaled $27.61363B or 10.93% of the total cryptocurrency market value.

Investing.com – Israel stocks were higher after the close on Sunday, as gains in the Banking, Real Estate and Financials sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Tel Aviv, the TA 35 rose 0.18%.

The best performers of the session on the TA 35 were Nice Ltd (TA:NICE), which rose 2.26% or 1140 points to trade at 51550 at the close. Meanwhile, Israel Discount Bank Ltd (TA:DSCT) added 1.86% or 26.0 points to end at 1421.0 and Mizrahi Tefahot (TA:MZTF) was up 1.80% or 138 points to 7800 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Tower Semiconductor Ltd (TA:TSEM), which fell 3.75% or 232 points to trade at 5951 at the close. Ormat Technologies (TA:ORA) declined 2.68% or 590 points to end at 21400 and Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Corp Ltd (TA:BEZQ) was down 2.61% or 7.1 points to 264.9.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange by 199 to 181 and 38 ended unchanged.

Shares in Nice Ltd (TA:NICE) rose to all time highs; gaining 2.26% or 1140 to 51550. Shares in Israel Discount Bank Ltd (TA:DSCT) rose to all time highs; gaining 1.86% or 26.0 to 1421.0.

Crude oil for July delivery was unchanged 0.00% or 0.00 to $62.92 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in July fell 0.70% or 0.51 to hit $72.11 a barrel, while the June Gold Futures contract fell 0.69% or 8.85 to trade at $1277.35 a troy ounce.

USD/ILS was up 0.09% to 3.5732, while EUR/ILS fell 0.03% to 3.9876.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.18% at 97.852.

By Barani Krishnan

Investing.com - It has taken nearly three years but geopolitics is back like never before in oil as a Saudi-Iran face-off raises the specter of a new Gulf war that’s front-loading crude prices. There’s just one problem for oil bulls though: The U.S.-China trade war is blowing out at the same time, and the fallout to the global economy from that could offset much of the positive impact brought on by the geopolitical risk to crude that’s spiking in the Middle East.

The trade war is also sending gold in all directions as investors try to decide whether the yellow metal or the U.S. dollar is a more worthy hedge

As OPEC holds a preliminary meeting today ahead of its June 25 decision on production cuts, sparks will likely fly between Riyadh and Tehran as they sit across each other as partners of the cartel despite their epic enmity. The Saudis accuse Iran of masterminding this week's sabotage of the kingdom's oil industry after Houthi rebels, known for their support of Tehran, claimed responsibility for drone attacks on two Saudi oil pumping stations. Earlier in the week, both the UAE and Saudi Arabia reported that their oil tankers in the Gulf were hit by projectiles, implying that the Iranians had a hand in that too. The Islamic Republic, on the other hand, has yet to forgive the two for their support of the Trump administration in the U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil.

What happens in today’s OPEC meeting is for another day’s telling, but, for now, back to what happened in the week that was in oil.

Energy Review

Crude futures rowed back much of the week’s early gains after China’s state-run media expressed impatience over the trade negotiations, after Huawei and other Chinese companies were shown the door from the U.S. market.

Brent futures, the U.K.-traded global benchmark for oil, closed at $72.21 per barrel, finishing Friday’s trade down 41 cents, or 0.6%. West Texas Intermediate futures, the benchmark for U.S. crude, settled at $62.76, down 11 cents, or 0.2%, on the day.

It had been an extraordinary week in oil, with Brent earlier soaring to a one-month high of $73.36 and WTI hitting a two-week peak of $63.64, on fear that a new war might break out in the Persian Gulf after Saudi Arabia accused Iran of sabotaging the kingdom's oil infrastructure.

Iran, officially barred from selling its crude under U.S. sanctions, had previously warned other oil exporters of "consequences" for supporting the action by President Donald Trump. But it denies charges of trying to sabotage Saudi oil facilities through its Houthi rebel allies, who have claimed responsibility for at least two drone attacks on Saudi oil pumping stations.

In spite of Friday's retreat, Brent still ended the week up 2.2%, while WTI gained 1.8%.

Oil turned direction after Taoran Notes, a pro-government WeChat blog run by the state-owned Economic Daily, said it was "meaningless" for Chinese officials to meet with their American counterparts when Washington wasn't showing any sincerity for the welfare of Chinese commerce in striking a trade deal.

The comments, coming just a day after the White House excluded Huawei and other Chinese companies from the U.S. market, mark a turn in rhetoric for China, which had previously been patient and hopeful on a deal being reached.

Anxiety that there could be all-out break in war in the Gulf was also dialed back by media reports quoted senior Trump administration officials as saying the president actually had no wish to push the U.S. into a war with the Islamic Republic.

"I am not a believer in the 'Middle East Tension' story as I have been numbed in my years on this, and the addition of Trump into the picture only makes it seem worse," said Olivier Jakob at PetroMatrix, an oil consultancy in Zug, Switzerland.

"The chances of conflict to me are still very low, which tells me not to embrace this rally as it's too news-driven."

That has raised question on how courageous oil bears might be in trying to short the oil.

John Kilduff, partner at New York energy hedge fund Again Capital, said in a recent interview with Investing.com that those with the “right strategy and conviction will dig their heels in to go against the trend, as nothing is more thrilling to them than proving the market wrong.”

But he adds: “You got to remember then you’re practically standing in the path of a freight train. This isn’t for those with a weak gut or easily overwhelmed by the multiple fear elements used by the bulls now to whip up prices.”

And it’s not just geopolitics that’s working against the bears. The market structure of the current oil rally also has time-spreads in favor of the flat price. That’s causing some of the deepest backwardation in oil now, where contracts farther out trade at large discounts to those nearby, earning “easy” money for those who just roll out of front months that expire into new ones. This is what is giving legs to the oil rally.

Said Scott Shelton, energy futures broker with ICAP in Durham, N.C., himself an oil bear: “I think it’s safe to say that this is a ‘perfect storm’ of bullish physical information with a healthy amount of geopolitics risk out there.”

“For those looking for sellers, I think you have to look to the producers, which will only worsen the backwardation.”

Energy Calendar Ahead

Tuesday, May 21
American Petroleum Institute weekly report on oil stockpiles.

Wednesday, May 22
The EIA weekly report on oil stockpiles.

Thursday, May 23
EIA weekly natural gas report

Friday, May 24
Baker Hughes weekly rig count.

Precious Metals Review

Bullion and futures of gold hit two-week lows on Friday, breaking decisively from the bullish $1,300 levels, as dollar bulls made more of the uncertainty in U.S.-China trade talks than gold bugs.

Spot gold, reflective of trades in bullion, last traded at $1,277.81 per ounce on Friday, down $8.85, or 0.7%, on the day.

Gold futures for June delivery, traded on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, settled down $10.50, or 0.8%, at $1,275.70 per ounce.

Spot gold reached a one-month peak of $1,303.35 on Tuesday, after China countered higher U.S. tariffs on its goods by announcing duty hikes of its own on American merchandise. June gold soared to a one-month high $1,304.15 the same day.

Unlike many assets, gold is in an unique position over the U.S.-China trade war. A positive development on that means bullion could benefit from more jewelry and other bullion-related consumption in China, while a negative outcome could bolster gold's standing as a safe-haven hedge against further weakening in Chinese growth.

But in recent days, the dollar had caught up as a hedge too to the trade war angst.

The Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, hit a two-week high of 97.84 on Friday.

Precious Metals Calendar Ahead

Monday, May 20

German PPI (April)
ECB's Praet Speaks
BoE’s Broadbent Speaks
FOMC Member Clarida Speaks
FOMC Member Williams Speaks
Market holiday – Canada

Tuesday, May 21

Fed Chair Powell Speaks
BoE Governor Carney Speaks
U.S. Existing Home Sales (April)
Eurozone Consumer Confidence (May)
FOMC Member Evans Speaks
FOMC Member Rosengren Speaks

Wednesday, May 22

U.K. CPI/PPI (April)
ECB's Praet Speaks
Canada Retail Sales (March)
FOMC Member Williams Speaks
FOMC Member Bostic Speaks
FOMC meeting Minutes

Thursday, May 23

German GDP (Q1)
French Flash Manufacturing/Services/ Composite PMI
German Flash Manufacturing/Services/ Composite PMI
Eurozone Flash Manufacturing/Services/ Composite PMI
German Ifo Business Climate Index (May)
ECB minutes
EU Parliamentary Elections
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims
U.S. New Home Sales (April)
U.S. Manufacturing/Services PMI (May)
FOMC Member Barkin Speaks
FOMC Member Bostic Speaks
FOMC Member Daly Speaks
FOMC Kaplan Speaks

Friday, May 24

U.K. Retail Sales (Apr)
ECB's Nowotny Speaks
U.S. Durable Goods Orders (April)
EU Parliamentary Elections

Investing.com - After a week dominated by escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China the trade war looks likely to remain to the forefront of investors’ minds, but this week will also feature Federal Reserve minutes, U.S. retail earnings and economic data as well as European Union elections.

Here’s what you need to know to start your week.

1. Trade tensions to remain a key driver

Trade tensions will remain a central theme in markets this week amid renewed concerns over the outlook for global economic growth as the U.S.-China trade war becomes more acrimonious.

“The trade story will remain the key driver of market moves next week, with the ratcheting up of tensions intensifying market concerns about the outlook for the global economy. We see little reason for optimism in the near-term, as the market is likely to be looking towards the G20 summit in June when President Trump is expected to sit down with President Xi to discuss the situation,” ING said.

The U.S. has held back from escalating the trade war on the Japanese and European fronts by delaying tariffs on auto imports, but the threat of tariffs still remains on the table.

2. Fed minutes, speakers on tap

The minutes of the Federal Reserve’s April 30-May 1 meeting, due on Wednesday, will give an insight into the debate by officials before they voted to keep interest rates on hold.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said at the press conference following the meeting that he did not see a strong case to move interest rates in either direction.

But against a background of sluggish inflation and economic uncertainty some Fed policymakers have indicated that they could lower interest rates if inflation does not pick up.

Meanwhile, Fed presidents from Richmond, Boston and Minneapolis have expressed concern over whether a prolonged trade conflict that hurts the economy might require a policy response.

Chairman Powell, Fed Vice-Chairman Richard Clarida, New York Fed head John Williams and St Louis Fed Chief James Bullard are among some of the central bank officials set to speak this week.

3. Economic data to watch

A fresh round of economic data will be closely watched at a time when markets are trying to gauge the impact of the trade conflict on the outlook for growth, both in the U.S. and the broader global economy.

The U.S. is to publish reports on durable goods orders and data on both existing and new home sales.

The Eurozone is to publish preliminary data on private sector activity and the German Ifo survey will also be in focus as investors look for signs of stronger growth in the second quarter. U.K. inflation data and a report on Canadian retail sales are also coming up.

4. Retail earnings

After an unexpected fall in U.S. retail sales last month raised doubts over the resilience of consumer spending, investors will parse earnings reports from big name retailers Home Depot (NYSE:HD), Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW), Kohls (NYSE:KSS), Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) and Target (NYSE:TGT) for what they say about the economic outlook. JC Penney (NYSE:JCP) and TJX (NYSE:TJX) will also publish earnings updates.

Earnings reports from Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and Macy's (NYSE:M) already brought the market down to earth last week; while earnings beat forecasts, both retailers warned of damage to sales and rising prices due to the U.S.-China trade spat.

The warnings also undermined President Donald Trump's assertion that China would pick up the tab for his tariff campaign, not American consumers.

5. European Union elections

European Union citizens go to the polls starting on May 23 to elect lawmakers to the EU parliament, in what could turn out to be a defining moment for the “Europe project”.

Eurosceptic parties are widely expected make a strong showing, which could hamper approval of the next European Commission president and budget.

A defeat for Britain's ruling Conservatives could accelerate Prime Minister Theresa May's exit and raise chances of 'no deal' Brexit. A strong showing for Italy's League may embolden Salvini to dissolve the coalition government and call new elections.

A better-than-expected outcome for the far-right will be bad news for the euro and sterling.

--Reuters contributed to this report

Investing.com - Here are three things that flew under the radar of the market this week.

1. Sell in May if You Believe the 3 Cs?

The near-term outlook for stocks is hardly encouraging as a record number of investors are betting against a swashbuckling summer, according to the latest Bank of America Fund Manager Survey.

A record 34% of investors are hedged for a sharp decline in equity markets over the next three months, the BofA survey for the period of May 3-9 indicated.

Worryingly for bulls, the record bets on a decline in equity markets did not price in the prospect of a U.S.-China trade-deal breakdown, according to BofA Chief Investment Strategist Michael Hartnett.

The turn in sentiment comes as traders see little chance that the 3Cs - credit, consumer, China - will surprise to the upside, Hartnett said

Looking further down the road, there are few willing to bet on an imminent recession, though some are expecting global growth to stutter over the next 12 months.

Of the 250 fund managers polled (with a cumulative $687 billion in assets under management), 5% expect global growth to weaken over the next year, while 66% don't expect a global recession until the second half of 2020 or later.

The survey also pointed out that traders have sought refuge in tech stocks during the rocky month of May, so far, while negative bets on European equities have continued to prove popular.

2. Are You Cool, S&P 500?

Just how mainstream is cannabis? In the business world it’s mainstream enough for some the biggest companies in the world to come knocking, according to a major cannabis producer.

Canadian company Tilray (NASDAQ:TLRY) reported earnings this week and results came in ahead of expectations, helping shares.

“As we see cannabis disrupting a number of other industries, we have been inundated with contacts from Fortune 500 companies who are interested in exploring partnerships with Tilray,” President and CEO Brendan Kennedy said. "And it's a range of companies from a broad variety of industries."

Those industries are the obvious ones, like tobacco and beverages, but also consumer packing (CPG) companies and retailers.

“So, obviously, lots of other tobacco companies are looking at the industry, lots of other CPG companies are looking at the cannabis industry from all different categories within CPG, and we're also starting to have lots of conversations with U.S. retailers who are interested in carrying CBD products in the second half of this year,” Kennedy said. “Some of the conversations are focused around carrying our products and other conversations revolve around essentially contract-manufacturing some of their in-house brands using Tilray-sourced cannabidiol.”

3. Leading Indicator Gauge Echoes 2009

It’s never a good sign when numbers start looking reminiscent of 2009, but that’s what Charles Schwab’s Liz Ann Sonders spied this week.

The Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released a measure of future economic activity and it did not bode well.

The OECD’s U.S. Composite Leading Indicator (CLI) fell 0.2 in March to 98.8, which is the weakest level since November 2009, Sonders pointed out.

“(M)ost other times, historically, this level was during recessions” with exceptions in the late ‘60s and mid-‘90s, she tweeted.

The CLI is basically a single indicator with several different forward-looking inputs (leading) designed to anticipate economic turning points.

“The composite leading indicator is designed to provide early signals of turning points in business cycles showing fluctuation of the economic activity around its long-term potential level,” the OECD says. “CLIs show short-term economic movements in qualitative rather than quantitative terms.”

The components that make up the U.S. CLI are housing starts, durable goods net new orders, the NYSE Composite index with 2015 as a baseline, the University of Michigan’s consumer confidence index, weekly manufacturing hours worked and the spread of interest rates from the Fed.

Investing.com - Stellar was trading at $0.13900 by 00:24 (04:24 GMT) on the Investing.com Index on Saturday, up 10.38% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage gain since May 15.

The move upwards pushed Stellar's market cap up to $2.54700B, or 1.10% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, Stellar's market cap was $12.12000B.

Stellar had traded in a range of $0.12898 to $0.14061 in the previous twenty-four hours.

Over the past seven days, Stellar has seen a rise in value, as it gained 40.71%. The volume of Stellar traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $522.49927M or 0.54% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $0.0963 to $0.1604 in the past 7 days.

At its current price, Stellar is still down 84.89% from its all-time high of $0.92 set on January 3, 2018.

Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading

Bitcoin was last at $7,326.7 on the Investing.com Index, up 2.26% on the day.

Ethereum was trading at $241.57 on the Investing.com Index, a loss of 0.31%.

Bitcoin's market cap was last at $130.19505B or 56.10% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while Ethereum's market cap totaled $25.70244B or 11.07% of the total cryptocurrency market value.

Investing.com – Canada stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Energy, Healthcare and Real Estate sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite lost 0.26%.

The best performers of the session on the S&P/TSX Composite were CAE Inc. (TO:CAE), which rose 14.59% or 4.67 points to trade at 36.67 at the close. Meanwhile, Alacer Gold Corp (TO:ASR) added 4.40% or 0.170 points to end at 4.030 and Semafo Inc . (TO:SMF) was up 3.44% or 0.13 points to 3.91 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were New Gold Inc (TO:NGD), which fell 6.54% or 0.070 points to trade at 1.000 at the close. Interfor Corp (TO:IFP) declined 4.05% or 0.54 points to end at 12.80 and Lundin Mining Corporation (TO:LUN) was down 3.97% or 0.260 points to 6.290.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Toronto Stock Exchange by 554 to 489 and 128 ended unchanged.

Shares in CAE Inc. (TO:CAE) rose to all time highs; rising 14.59% or 4.67 to 36.67. Shares in Interfor Corp (TO:IFP) fell to 52-week lows; down 4.05% or 0.54 to 12.80.

The S&P/TSX 60 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of S&P/TSX Composite options, was up 3.02% to 14.99.

Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.69% or 8.85 to $1277.35 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June fell 0.22% or 0.14 to hit $62.73 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 0.70% or 0.51 to trade at $72.11 a barrel.

CAD/USD was up 0.03% to 0.7430, while CAD/EUR rose 0.19% to 0.6660.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.18% at 97.852.

By Barani Krishnan

Investing.com - Iran and oil's war worries have to wait. Attention is back to China and the trade war.

Crude futures rowed back much of Friday's early gains that would have made it a four-day winning streak for the bulls as China’s state-run media expressed impatience over the trade negotiations after Huawei and other Chinese companies were shown the door from the U.S. market.

West Texas Intermediate futures, the benchmark for U.S. crude, settled down 11 cents, or 0.2%, at $62.75 per barrel. It hit a two-week high of $63.64 earlier on fears that a new war might break out in the Persian Gulf after Saudi Arabia accused Iran of sabotaging the kingdom's oil infrastructure.

Iran, officially barred from selling its crude under U.S. sanctions, had previously warned other oil exporters of "consequences" for supporting the action by President Donald Trump. But it denies charges of trying to sabotage Saudi oil facilities through its Houthi rebel allies, who have claimed responsibility for the attacks.

London Brent futures, the global benchmark for oil, slid by 48 cents, or 0.7%, to $72.14 per barrel by 2:42 PM ET (18:42 GMT).

In spite of the pullback from Friday's highs, WTI still ended the week up 1.8%. While it is down 2% on the month, year-to-date it shows a 38% gain.

Brent is up 2.2% on the week, 0.2% on the month and 34% on the year.

Oil turned direction after Taoran Notes, a pro-government WeChat blog run by China's state-owned Economic Daily, said it was "meaningless" for Chinese officials to meet with their American counterparts when Washington wasn't showing any sincerity for the welfare of Chinese commerce in striking a trade deal.

The comments, just one day after the White House excluded Huawei and other Chinese companies from the U.S. market, are a turn in rhetoric for China, which had previously been patient and hopeful on a deal being reached.

Market participants also became less bullish after media reports quoted senior Trump administration officials as saying the president actually had no wish to push the U.S. into a war with the Islamic Republic.

"I am not a believer in the 'Middle East Tension' story as I have been numbed in my years on this, and the addition of Trump into the picture only makes it seem worse," said Olivier Jakob at PetroMatrix, an oil consultancy in Zug, Switzerland.

"The chances of conflict to me are still very low, which tells me not to embrace this rally as it's too news-driven," Jakob said.

Oil prices did get some support from a drop in the U.S. oil rig count to 14-month lows.

In two previous weeks, the reading for oil rigs has moved back and forth by just two units. On Friday, industry firm Baker Hughes, which publishes the weekly number, said the count fell by 3 this week to 802, its lowest since March 16, 2018. U.S. crude production is near record highs at 12.2 million barrels per day.

Investing.com – Sweden stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Industrials, Oil&Gas and Financials sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Stockholm, the OMX Stockholm 30 declined 0.53%.

The best performers of the session on the OMX Stockholm 30 were Swedish Match AB (ST:SWMA), which rose 0.72% or 3.3 points to trade at 463.6 at the close. Meanwhile, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson Class B (ST:ERICb) added 0.49% or 0.44 points to end at 90.70 and Svenska Cellulosa SCA AB B (ST:SCAb) was up 0.46% or 0.4 points to 78.4 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Securitas AB ser. B (ST:SECUb), which fell 2.33% or 3.85 points to trade at 161.25 at the close. Autoliv Inc . SDB (ST:ALIVsdb) declined 2.08% or 14.2 points to end at 669.8 and Kinnevik, Investment AB ser. B (ST:KINVb) was down 1.54% or 4.1 points to 261.5.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Stockholm Stock Exchange by 338 to 273 and 55 ended unchanged.

Crude oil for June delivery was down 0.27% or 0.17 to $62.70 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in July fell 0.72% or 0.52 to hit $72.10 a barrel, while the June Gold Futures contract fell 0.78% or 10.00 to trade at $1276.20 a troy ounce.

EUR/SEK was down 0.03% to 10.7634, while USD/SEK rose 0.06% to 9.6428.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.12% at 97.800.