Stocks rise as traders weigh Harvey

Bloomberg

US stocks edged higher, the dollar struggled and gold rose as investors weighed the damage from Tropical Storm Harvey. European stocks started the week on the back foot following Friday’s euro surge, but managed to pare a drop.
Gasoline surged to the highest in two years and oil declined as flooding from Harvey inundated refining centers along the Texas coast, shutting more than 10 percent of US fuel-making capacity. US stock rose though, as Oppenheimer Chief Strategist John Stoltzfus said broad markets shouldn’t be “dramatically affected.” Miners were among the big losers in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, which was under pressure as the single currency traded sideways above $1.19.
“The economic impact of Hurricane Harvey is still very hard to determine,” Matt Maley, an equity analyst at Miller Tabak & Co. wrote in a note to clients Monday. “It’s going to be a while before we know how much of an impact it will have. The ‘clean-up’ and ‘rebuild’ after these disasters actually have a positive impact on the economy in certain ways.”
With the much-anticipated central-bank meeting at Jackson Hole now behind them, investors this week will be eager for signs of constructive progress in US politics after comments on Friday from Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, cut through much of the gloom that had been generated by recent White House scuffles. Cohn said in an interview he expects tax reform to pass this year and that he didn’t intend to resign over the president’s reaction to riots in Virginia.
Treasury traders face a week headlined by Tuesday’s auction of bills that mature Sept. 29 — the deadline Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has called critical for raising the debt ceiling. They will then look forward to inflation and payrolls data that will be key for determining the Fed’s next moves. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester urged her colleagues to look past recent weak inflation data and to stick to their gradual pace of lifting interest rates.
UK markets are closed for a public holiday on Monday. The US Treasury issues $132 billion in notes and bills in a 90-minute span Monday. The UK is due to resumes Brexit talks with the European Union. Japan reports jobs data on Tuesday and retail sales figures on Wednesday. Hong Kong reports on retail on Tuesday, while Australia is due to publish data on Wednesday detailing construction work done. The US updates second-quarter GDP and core price data on Wednesday, and reports on August payrolls on Friday.
The S&P 500 Index rose 0.2 percent to 2,447.72 as of 9: 33 a.m. in New York The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.2 percent The MSCI World Index of developed countries advanced 0.2 percent. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed at 1,149.61, after touching the lowest in more than two years. The euro was little changed at $1.1930. The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose one basis point to 2.17 percent. Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.38 percent.
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.7 percent to $47.54 a barrel. Gold gained 0.4 percent to $1,297.06 an ounce, the strongest in about 10 months. Gasoline
futures on Nymex for September delivery soared 4 percent to $1.735 a gallon.
The Topix closed 0.2 percent higher, while South Korea’s Kospi index fell 0.4 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 500 Index declined 0.6 percent. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rose less than
0.1 percent.
The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.9 percent. The Japanese yen climbed less than 0.05 percent to 109.32 per dollar.