Bloomberg Commodity

In an overnight session dominated by the latest political developments out of the US where Hillary Clinton officially claimed the democratic nomination, the financial newsflow focused on China's trade data, where exports fell 4.1% from a year earlier, in line with expectations, but imports dropped 0.4% from a year earlier, the smallest decline since they turned negative in November 2014, likely reflecting higher commodities prices but really driven by "imports" from Hong Kong which rose to $2.48b, the highest since at least 1999; and a 243% y/y surge in dollar term, also a historical high.

• Soothing Fed sounds send stocks to five-week high (Reuters)
• Clinton reaches magic number in fight for Democratic nomination (Reuters)
• Euro-Area Economy Grows Faster as Consumption Gathers Pace (BBG)
• Trump unyielding on Hispanic judge uproar (Reuters)
• European Firms Find ‘Increasingly Hostile’ Environment in China (WSJ)
• China tells U.S. to play constructive South China Sea role (Reuters)
• Republican Alternative to Dodd-Frank Calls for Banks to Boost Capital (WSJ)

Stock whisperer Yellen said all the right things yesterday, when she sounded more optimistic than pessimistic on the economy but while the economy is "strong" it is most likely not strong enough to weather a rate hike in the immediate future.

Did it ever really matter what Yellen said?

Every ugly nonfarm payrolls has a silver lining, and sure enough following Friday's disastrous jobs report, global mining and energy companies rallied alongside commodities after the jobs data crushed speculation the Fed would raise interest rates this month.  “The disappointing U.S. jobs report on Friday means that a summer Fed rate hike is off the table,” said Jens Pedersen, a commodities analyst at Danske Bank. “That has reversed the upwards trend in the dollar, supporting commodities on a broader basis.