By Riva Gold 

Global stocks were mostly higher Monday after stabilizing near the end of last week, helped by a rebound in commodity-linked companies.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.6% in morning trading, following modest gains across Asian markets and a late climb on Wall Street. Futures pointed to a 0.2% opening advance for the S&P 500.

The basic resources sector led gains in Europe with a 2.5% climb, as a bounce in oil and metals prices helped energy and mining companies recover from last week's declines.

Brent crude oil was last up 0.6% at $72.26 a barrel. Copper futures were up 1.4% at $6,017 a ton while gold rose 0.9% to $1,195.20 an ounce after six-straight weeks of losses.

Metals prices had fallen last week while worries about Turkey and its knock-on effects across Europe helped send the Stoxx Europe 600 last week to its biggest weekly decline since June.

The Turkish lira was down 1.6% against the dollar Monday, up 13% from a week ago but still down about 38% on the year. S&P Global Ratings and Moody's Investors Service on Friday downgraded Turkey one notch further below investment grade, citing recent extreme economic and financial volatility.

The Trump administration rejected an effort by Turkey to tie the release of a U.S. pastor with relief for a major Turkish bank facing billions of dollars in U.S. fines, a senior White House official said.

Elsewhere, stocks in Asia were mostly higher Monday after an upbeat finish Friday on Wall Street. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 1.2%, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.1% after five-straight sessions of declines.

Australia's S&P ASX 200 edged up 0.1% as energy and materials companies there also rose.

Japanese stocks lagged behind in very light trading, with the Nikkei down 0.3% after the yen strengthened against the dollar late last week.

The ICE Dollar Index was last up 0.2%, adding to this year's 4.5% advance. Investors are expected to watch central bank comments closely in the coming sessions for any insights into the impact of a strengthening dollar on emerging markets and the course of interest-rate increases.

Minutes from the Federal Reserve's August meeting are due this week just as the Kansas City Fed's annual Jackson Hole symposium kicks off, the first time Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will speak at the monetary policy gathering.

Investors will also be watching for any comments officials make relating to the potential impact of trade tensions on the economy.

Negotiators from the U.S. and China have been working out talks to try to end their trade standoff ahead of planned meetings between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at multilateral summits in November, according to officials in both nations.

Kosaku Narioka contributed to this article.

Write to Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 20, 2018 05:22 ET (09:22 GMT)

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