US equities kick off the week on a positive note, continuing its seven-week bull run. The Dow closed flat, up one point. Up 88 points at best. Down 20 points at worst. The S&P 500 gained 0.45% as more than $40bn of mergers and acquisitions hit the wire, following months of disappointing volumes. The NASDAQ Composite is up +0.61%, and the NASDAQ 100 gained 0.64% to close at a record high for a second consecutive session. Wall Street’s fear gauge the VIX up 1.3%, hovering around 12, but within striking distance of recent multi-year lows. Mounting attacks by militant groups on ships in the Red Sea pushed oil prices higher over supply concerns, which in turn boosted energy stocks. US treasuries edged higher after Fed officials pushed back against market pricing of interest rate cuts. Among stocks, US Steel Corporation jumped 26.09% on reports that Japanese Nippon Steel secured a deal to buy the company for $14.9bn in cash. Meanwhile, Apple fell 0.9% after announcing a halt in Apple watch sales in the US due to patent rights violations.

ASX to rise. SPI Futures up 6 points (+0.8%).

• Base metals mixed. Nickel -3.79%, Zinc +0.32%, Lead -1.37%, and Tin -1.78%.
• Copper down 0.94% on demand concerns from China.
• Aluminium up 1.94% after stocks in LME-approved warehouses jumped more than 13% on Friday, indicating a surplus of the metal in transport.
• Gold up 0.43% on dip buying.
• 10Y Bond Yields. US 3.945%, Australia 4.123% and Germany 2.073%.

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