Lower Open Likely For US Markets, Oil Jumps

Lower open likely for the U.S. markets Monday after the key stock index futures looked subdued on Monday morning.

At 6 a.m. ET, Dow futures indicated a negative open of about 90 points. Both S&P and Nasdaq futures were also marginally lower.

The market focus shifted to the anxieties around corporate results, with major U.S. banks to release their results later this week. On Friday, J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo would report their latest earnings.

Investor concerns stem from analysts prediction that the upcoming earnings season will be one of shrinking corporate results since 2016. At data front, factory orders data of February will be out on Monday.

Oil price jumps to Nov high

Oil prices surged to their highest level since November 2018 on Monday led by OPEC’s supply cuts, U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela, Libya crisis and strong U.S. jobs data.

Per barrel price at International benchmark Brent futures zoomed to $70.62 at 0716 GMT on Monday, 0.4 percent or up 28 cents from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude jumped 30 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $63.39 per barrel.

In November, Brent and WTI had their highest at $70.76 and $63.48 a barrel.

“OPEC’s ongoing supply cuts and US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela are the major drivers of prices throughout this year,” noted Hussein Sayed, strategist at futures brokerage FXTM.

Asian stocks mixed

Asia markets showed mixed trends Monday as investors digested better-than-expected jobs data and progress being made in trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing.

Mainland Chinese stocks traded lower with the Shanghai composite slipping slightly and Shenzhen composite down 0.55 percent. But the Shenzhen component jumped 0.11 percent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.32 percent in the final hour of trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.21 percent while the Topix shed 0.35 percent. South Korea’s Kospi closed fractionally higher while Australia’s ASX 200 advanced 0.65 percent.

In Europe, the stocks were slightly off with the pan-European Stoxx 600 down by 0.2 percent in the early morning trade. Investors are weighing the challenges of a likely hard U.S. earnings season.

Gold price up

Meanwhile, gold prices zoomed to a one-week peak on Monday after the dollar slipped as U.S. wage growth slowed in March. Spot gold moved up 0.4 percent to $1,296.87 per ounce by 0746 GMT. U.S. gold futures jumped 0.4 percent at $1,301 an ounce.

“The dollar index is pulling back from multi-week highs and gold prices are riding this tailwind of the softer dollar,” commented Margaret Yang, a market analyst with CMC Markets, Singapore.