Markets Update: This week, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon are set to announce their results. Traders will be monitoring JOLTS and payroll data for insights into Fed policy. The US election is approaching its final stages, with polls tightening and markets considering the possibility of a Trump victory.
Global Markets Roundup: 29 October 2024
FESX1! | Z1! | NI225 | NQ1! | ES1! | EURUSD | USDJPY | DXY | GOLD | CL1! | ZC1! | ZS1! HG1!
During a volatile trading session on Tuesday, Asian stocks showed a variety of performances as investors geared up for a series of tech megacap earnings reports on Wall Street over the next three days. The earnings season kicked off with Google parent Alphabet GOOG later in the day. Meanwhile, the dollar hovered near a three-month high as the market awaited the release of the JOLTS job openings report by the Federal Reserve on Tuesday, ahead of the highly anticipated non-farm payrolls data due on Friday. U.S. Treasury yields pulled back from their recent three-month highs. After a sharp drop to a three-month low on Monday, the yen stabilized due to uncertainties arising from the poor performance of the coalition government in weekend elections, impacting Japanese fiscal and monetary policies.
The Nikkei index bounced back from a cautious start to build on gains from the previous session. The U.S. election is entering its final phase, with opinion polls indicating a close race between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris. While some betting sites and financial markets are leaning towards a Trump victory, the final outcome remains uncertain. Crude oil prices fell after a significant drop on Monday, as signs suggested that the Middle East conflict would not escalate further following Israel's decision not to target oil and nuclear sites in Iran during a recent retaliatory strike.
The Nikkei's NI225 index closed the day with a 0.77% increase, following a 1.82% surge in the previous session. Initially, it was down by 0.21% at the start of the day. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index (HSI) rose by 0.5%, reducing earlier gains of up to 1.6%. Mainland Chinese blue chips (3399300) fell by 0.75%, reversing an initial increase of 0.68%. Chinese investors are closely monitoring a key leadership meeting next week for more information on Beijing's stimulus plans. U.S. S&P 500 futures (ES1!) remained unchanged after the index rose by 0.26% in the previous trading session. This week, the majority of the 7 megacap technology stocks responsible for propelling Wall Street to record levels this year will be releasing their financial results. Meta Platforms META and Microsoft MSFT are scheduled to report earnings on Wednesday, with Apple AAPL and Amazon AMZN following on Thursday.
In the currency markets, The dollar remained relatively stable compared to a group of six major currencies, including the yen and euro. The dollar index DXY, was at 104.29, slightly lower from the previous day's peak of 104.57, which was the highest level since July 30. Recent strong economic indicators in the U.S., particularly in the job market, have reduced expectations for Federal Reserve easing this year, supporting the dollar. Market sentiment has also favored the dollar due to increasing expectations of a victory for Trump in the upcoming election. His proposed policies on tariffs, taxes, and immigration are viewed as inflationary, which is negative for bonds but positive for the dollar. The dollar weakened by 0.23% against the yen, reaching 152.92 USDJPY, following a recent high of 153.885 yen on Monday. In Japan, a period of coalition-building is expected after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's party lost its parliamentary majority, potentially leading to increased fiscal spending and complicating the Bank of Japan's efforts to normalize interest rates. The opposition has advised the central bank to maintain its loose monetary policy due to stagnant real wage growth. The Bank of Japan is set to announce its policy decision on Thursday, with no changes anticipated. The euro held steady at $1.0811 EURUSD, while the pound dipped slightly to $1.29655 (GBPUSD). EURUSD | USDJPY | AUDUSD | DXY | NZDUSD
In commodities, Gold increased by 0.39% to reach $2,752.75 per ounce, nearing the previous week's peak of $2,758.37. Brent crude futures BRN1! dipped by 0.18% to $71.29 per barrel, whereas U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CL1! stood at $67.25 per barrel, marking a decrease of 0.19%. Both contracts experienced a sharp decline of 6% on Monday, reaching their lowest levels since October 1st. Copper futures hovered around $4.31 per pound on Tuesday, staying within a sideways trading range since mid-October as investors awaited policy announcements from a meeting of top leadership in China scheduled for next week with caution. In soft commodities, December New York cocoa CC1! ​​closed higher by $147, or 2.2%, at $6,917 per metric ton, bouncing back from the eight-month low of $6,426 seen on Friday. Meanwhile, March London cocoa C2! increased by 3.7% to reach 4,992 pounds per ton. March raw sugar SB1! finished lower by 0.18 cents, or 0.8%, at 21.96 cents per pound. December white sugar SF1! dropped by 1.1% to $560.20 per ton. January robusta coffee RC2! closed higher by $91, or 2.1%, at $4,502 per ton, recovering from Friday's 2-1/2 month low of $4,296. December arabica coffee KC1! increased by 1.6% to $2.5235 per pound. BRN1! | CL1! | GOLD | HG1! | KC1! | RC1! | CC1!
Looking forward refer to the economic calendar below to see the upcoming events scheduled for today and the rest of the week.
General news - Information source from multiple newswires.
The article and the data is for general information use only, not advice!
The Trade Academy Team