* European, UK shares snap 4-day winning streak
* Financials on the back foot again, mining sector up
* Silver surges to near 2-year high
* Australia shares, dollar up on Moody's election comment
By Vikram Subhedar
LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - A post-Brexit recovery across
European markets stalled on Monday with major share indexes
mixed while safe-haven demand for precious metals helped the
price of silver surge to a near-two year high.
Light trading volumes ahead of a public holiday in the
United States is likely to keep markets choppy through the day.
Europe's Stoxx 600 .STOXX fell 0.3 percent and London's
FTSE 100 .FTSE fell 0.1 percent with weaker financials
offsetting gains from shares in mining companies.
Earlier in the day, the Australian dollar recovered from a
wobbly start caused by political uncertainty while Asian shares
and base metal prices rose, partly on expectations of economic
stimulus from China.
JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) strategists warned investors against chasing the
rally in risky assets.
"We do not believe that we will see a sustained upmove.
Positioning is not washed out, market internals are not positive
and political uncertainty will linger," they wrote in a note.
Caution is likely to persist through the week with the Bank
of England scheduled to publish its quarterly financial
stability report on Tuesday, the June U.S. Federal Reserve
meeting minutes due on Wednesday and U.S. jobs data on Friday.
In bond markets, borrowing costs in the euro zone rose for
the first time in more than a week as investors took prices down
to make room for some 20 billion euros of bond supply from the
region this week, halting a post-Brexit slide in yields.
Sterling was little changed at $1.3279 GBP=D4 , nursing its
losses after an 11-percent plunge to a 31-year trough of $1.3122
a week ago following last month's shock Brexit vote.
The weekend's headlines were dominated by mixed messages
from the candidates seeking to replace David Cameron as
Conservative Party leader and prime minister, offering markets
little certainty about the outlook for the months ahead.
The euro edged slightly lower to $1.1115 EUR= and was down
slightly against its Japanese counterpart at 114.27 yen
EURJPY=R. The dollar rose 0.2 percent to 102.65 yen JPY= .
Crude oil prices extended gains from Friday's surge after
comments by the Saudi energy minister that the oil market is
heading towards balance despite signs of slowing demand in Asia.
Spot gold XAU= added 0.6 percent to $1,350.40 an ounce
after gaining 1.5 percent on Friday and about 9 percent in June.
Silver XAG= spiked 1.4 percent higher to $20.01 an ounce,
breaking the $20-dollar level for the first time in nearly two
years.
(Editing by Louise Ireland)