Commodities, currencies will dictate mood

LAST week, US stocks inched higher to near record highs as fears about the collapse of President Donald Trump's economic agenda, a soft economic patch and the French election subsided.

The only nasty surprise for investors was the apparent return of the commodities bust, as worries about increased US production drove oil prices to their lowest level of the year and a crackdown on credit in China reduced copper to a similar fate. Among the major reasons for stock market corrections in 2015 and 2016 was the crash in oil and industrial-commodities prices. A return to the depths could rattle global markets again.

The other big fear for markets in recent years was the tenuous conditions of the European Union. Already frayed at the edges by Brexit, the euro zone could collapse if there were a Frexit. The polls indicate that Emmanuel Macron will l…