Scoreboard: Foiled by metals

In US economic data, the national activity index rose from a revised reading of 0.31 in October to 0.73 in November. Existing home sales fell by 6.1 per cent to a 4.93 million annual rate in November, down from an expected level of 5.2 million.

European shares were firmer on Monday with the FTSEurofirst 300 index up by 0.4 per cent and the German Dax up by 0.8 per cent. Investors were comforted by developments in Greece. Shares in Greece rose by 0.6% with Reuters reporting that "Prime Minister Antonis Samaras offered on Sunday to bring independents into the government and hold new elections in late 2015 if lawmakers back him to elect a new president." In London trade, the FTSE rose by 0.5 per cent but shares in BHP Billiton fell by 0.7 per cent while Rio Tinto lost 0.3 per net. 

US sharemarkets rose on Monday. Technology shares were favoured by investors while shares in the energy sector weakened in response to lower oil and natural gas prices. With just over an hour of trade to go, the Dow Jones index was up by 118 points or 0.7 per cent with the S&P 500 index up by 0.2 per cent while the Nasdaq was higher by 10 points or 0.2 per cent.

US treasuries were mixed on Monday as investors debated the timing of rate hikes and mulled lower oil prices. US Treasury sold $US27bn of 2-year notes on Monday and will sell $US35bn of 5-year notes and $US13bn of re-opened 2-year floating rate notes on Tuesday and $US29bn of 7-year notes on Wednesday. US 2 year yields rose by 2 points to 0.659 per cent while US 10 year yields fell by 1 point to 2.157 per cent.

Major currencies fell against the greenback in European and US trade on Monday. The euro rose from lows near $US1.2235 to around $US1.2270 but fell back to $US1.2235 and was near the lows in late US trade. The Aussie dollar fell from highs near US81.70c to lows around US81.30c and was near US81.35c in late US trade. And the Japanese yen weakened from ¥119.44 per US dollar to ¥120.00 and was near ¥119.92 in late US trade.

World oil prices fell again on Monday. Saudi Arabia oil minister Ali al-Naimi said that it was "not in the interest of OPEC producers to cut their production, whatever the price is." Brent crude fell by $US1.27 or 2.1 per cent to $US60.11 a barrel. US Nymex crude fell by $US1.26 or 2.2 per cent to US$55.26 a barrel.

Base metal prices fell by up to 1.5 per cent on the London Metal Exchange on Monday with aluminium leading the declines. But nickel rose by 0.3 per cent. Gold eased in response to a firmer greenback on Monday with Comex gold futures down by $US16.20 an ounce or 1.4 per cent to US$1,179.70 per ounce. Iron ore fell by $US1.50 to $US68.00 a tonne on Monday after rising by the same amount on Friday.

Ahead: In Australia the weekly consumer confidence index is scheduled. In the US, data on durable goods orders is released with weekly chain store sales, revised economic growth (GDP) figures, new home sales, personal income data and the Richmond Federal Reserve index.