Global markets rally; commodities surge too

**US equity markets ended higher on better than expected macro data on Tuesday

US is shut today on Independence Day Holiday

US factory orders for May increased 0.7% as against negative 0.7% last month. It was better than expectations of +0.1%

US vehicle sales for June too were better than expected at 14.1 million versus 13.8 million MoM while expectation was of flat reading

Europe is in wait and watch mode ahead of ECB decision tomorrow

Libor rate scandal dominated headlines; Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond suddenly quit on Tuesday

IMF revised US growth expectation downward to 2% from 2.1% and for Germany at 1%

State owned press in China says time ripe for some easing; RRR cut is possible again 

US markets at close: Dow Jones gained 0.6% at 12,943.8; S&P 500 Index rose 0.6% to 1,374. Nasdaq Composite was up 0.8%

European markets at close: DAX was up 1.3% and CAC went up 1% while FTSE climbed 0.8%. Spain and Italy were up 1.3% each.

Asia Today

Nikkei and Straits Times were up 0.5%

Kospi and Hang Seng moved up 0.4%

Taiwan Weighted gained 0.3% whereas Shanghai was flat

SGX Nifty rose 0.6% to 5327

Currencies

Euro has been consolidating ahead of ECB

Euro is currently at 1.258 to the US dollar after hitting a session high 1.26

Dollar index was steady at 81.9

Commodities

Commodities rallied significantly; CRB Index jumped 3% led by crude

Iran missile tests and Bullish API report aided crude 

Brent crude hit a session high of USD 101.6 a barrel, before closing USD 100.7 a barrel

WTI crude was up 4% at USD 87.7 a barrel as API says inventory was down by 3 million barrels

LME Copper rose 2.5% on China easing talk

Gold hit a session high of around USD 1625 an ounce, before closing up 1%

Commodities were marginally lower today morning

What to watch out for

Services PMI in Europe (EZ, Italy, France, UK)

Eurozone Retail Sales