Market round up: Safe havens rally as risk events stack up

In other news, cement prices across India correct in June; livestock exports drop 7.4% in April.

Caution reigned across markets in a week loaded with risk events, from former Federal Bureau of Investigation chief James Comey’s congressional testimony to the European Central Bank’s (ECB’s) policy meeting and Britain’s increasingly uncertain election. Havens including gold, the yen and Treasuries gained while stocks retreated. Gold headed for a seven-month high and the yen rose to the strongest since April, while 10-year Treasury yields fell to the lowest since November. The dollar traded at an eight-month low and US stock futures slipped. Europe’s benchmark share index fell the most in a week led by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche Holding AG after one of its drug studies disappointed. South Africa’s rand slumped after the country fell into a recession for the first time since 2009. With all three major events—Comey, the ECB meet and British election—on Thursday, investors’ risk-off mood this week is understandable. It’s been compounded by a diplomatic spat among energy producing nations in the Middle East and a terror attack in London.

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Source :  Live Mint