Average Open Likely For US Markets; Oil Down

Average open likely for U.S markets Thursday after Index futures were unchanged in the morning. Around 6 a.m. ET, Dow futures indicated an average open less than 5 points. The S&P and Nasdaq futures also stood flat.

The market was focused on global trade developments, especially between the U.S. and China in Washington. President Donald Trump will have a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at the White House on Thursday.

On data, weekly jobless claims figures will be out.

The upcoming U.S. jobs data due on Friday will be the next important variable about the strength of the U.S. economy. A weakness payrolls data would hit the dollar and equities.

Oil slips

Oil prices slipped on Thursday. Brent prices fell further from the $70 mark after U.S. oil data showed a jump in crude inventories backed by record production.

Brent futures fell 3 cents at $69.28 a barrel by 0603 GMT. On Wednesday Brent fell 6 cents. The fall in U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was 8 cents or 0.1 percent to $62.38 a barrel.

The contract dropped 12 cents in the previous session after hitting $62.99, the highest since November.

“There is a clear bias to the upside with the supply restrictions,” said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney.

Crude oil inventories in the United States surged by 7.2 million barrels last week after net imports climbed, according to the data by Energy Information Administration (EIA). This was contrary to analysts forecast of a decrease by half a million barrels.

Gold price up

Gold prices surged Thursday after the U.S. dollar traded to almost a week’s low while investors are awaiting progress on the Sino-U.S. trade negotiations.

Spot gold moved up 0.2 percent to $1,292.16 per ounce as of 0756 GMT. U.S. gold futures firmed 0.1 percent at $1,296.80 an ounce.

The dollar traded low after data showed U.S. services sector activity shrunk to a 19-month low in March.

Asian stocks up

Shares in Asia showed mixed trends Thursday as investors watched for a deal in U.S. and China talks on trade dispute.

In Chinese markets, the Shanghai composite gained 0.94 percent and the Shenzhen component jumped 0.73 percent. Hong Kong Hang Seng index declined 0.5 percent in the final hour of trading.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose nominally while the Topix slipped 0.11 percent. But South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.15 percent and in Australia’s ASX 200 there was a decline of 0.83 percent as the sectors declined.

European stocks closed lower on Thursday as traders monitored developments from ongoing U.S.-China trade talks.

The European Stoxx 600 index was down around 0.4 percent during mid-morning deals, with most sectors slipping into negative territory.