Flat Open Likely For US Markets: Oil Down

Flat open likely for the U.S markets Monday after the U.S. stock index futures were mostly unchanged in the morning.

At 6 a.m. ET, Dow futures indicated a nearly flat open. Similarly, futures on the S&P and Nasdaq also were unchanged.

Corporate earnings continue to be the focus of investors. Spotify, Restaurant Brands, Alphabet, and Western Digital will be reporting their earnings on Monday.

At the data front, personal income, and consumer spending figures, core inflation figures will be out. The leg up in the market comes from the fresh developments in trade talks between the U.S. and China.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that both sides are “getting into the final laps” of their negotiations.

Oil slips

Oil prices plunged on Monday extending the fall on Friday after weeks of rallying. This followed President Donald Trump’s demand that producer club OPEC must raise output to address the shortfall and impact of the U.S. sanctions against Iran.

Brent crude futures price at $71.59 per barrel was down 56 cents or 0.78 percent, at 0840 GMT, from the last close.

The U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 37 cents, or 0.58 percent at $62.93 per barrel from the previous settlement.

Trump on Friday urged the OPEC to cut oil prices.

“Gasoline prices are coming down. I called up OPEC; I said you’ve got to bring them down. You’ve got to bring them down,” Trump added.

Asian stocks mixed

Meanwhile, shares in the Asia Pacific showed a mixed trend on Monday. Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday.

Mainland Chinese shares fell with the Shanghai composite losing 0.77 percent and the Shenzhen component dropped 2.88 percent. The Shenzhen composite declined 2.41 percent.

Equity research firm, Capital Economics attributed the weakness to skepticism over the country’s economic stimulus plans after the arrival of better-than-expected first-quarter GDP results.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index soared 0.88 percent in the final hour of trading. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.70 percent.

Gold slips

Gold prices slipped on Monday after hitting a high on Friday. The equity markets picked up and the risk-sentiment waned, affecting the safe-haven appeal of the metal.

Spot gold fell 0.3 percent to $1,281.87 per ounce at 0847 GMT, from the $1,288.59 in the previous session. The U.S. gold futures shed 0.4 percent to touch $1,283.80 for an ounce.

“There have been rebounds in both U.S. and Chinese data. This is beating the safe-haven demand and helping the equity markets instead” commented Vandana Bharti, an analyst with the commodity research at SMC Comtrade.