Investors will likely focus on US stocks today, as markets logged their first weekly losses in the past three weeks.
Context: US stocks closed higher on Friday, as investors assessed economic reports and mixed earnings from companies. Signs of some stability in crude prices provided support.
Details: Last week started with a record drop in oil prices, pushing the WTI to a negative territory for the first time in history. Crude stabilised over the past few sessions, providing some relief to markets, but fears over the extent of an economic recession following the coronavirus outbreak kept investors on edge during the week.
President Donald Trump signed the $484 billion coronavirus relief package on Friday, providing funding to various small businesses in the country.
Investor concerns were also fuelled by disappointing economic reports on Friday, showing a 14.4% decline in US durable goods orders in March. The final reading on the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment dipped to 71.8 in April, from 89.1 in March.
The Dow rose 1.1% to close at 23,775.27 on Friday but closed the week lower by 1.9%. The S&P 500 rose 1.4% to 2,836.74, while the Nasdaq 100 settled higher by 1.7% to finish at 8,634.52.
Shares of American Express rose around 1% after the credit card company reported upbeat first-quarter profits, although missing revenue expectations. Verizon Communications’ stock edged higher by 0.6% after the company posted an earnings beat.
In commodities, oil rose for the third consecutive session on Friday, but closed sharply lower for the week. WTI crude for June delivery rose 2.7% to close at $16.94 per barrel, while booking a weekly decline of 32%. Gold futures slipped 0.6% to settle at $1,735.60 an ounce in the previous session but notched a weekly rise of 2%.
What to watch: Investors continue to track the daily coronavirus numbers, with the global number of cases exceeding 2,972,310. The number of positive COVID-19 cases in the US has surpassed 965,910 with around 54,870 deaths.
US stocks are expected to continue the positive momentum from Friday, with the stock futures pointing towards a higher start today. The US economic calendar is light today, with the country only releasing the Dallas Fed manufacturing index, which is expected to have tanked to a reading of -70 in March, from 1.2 in the previous month.
Other Markets: European indices were trading higher at 9:00a.m. GMT, with the FTSE 100, STOXX Europe 600 and French 40 up by 1.7%, 1.6% and 1.9%, respectively.