Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Tuesday, May 10:
1. Oil rebounds after Monday’s tumble
Oil bounced back on Tuesday after closing the prior session with a 2.7% drop as market players continued to weigh supply disruption in Canada and waited for fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products.
The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Wednesday’s government report could show crude stockpiles rose by 0.5 million barrels in the week ended May 6.
Additionally, the Qatari oil minister commented that the market is on the way to recovery and should rebalance in the second half of the year, while the Saudi Arabia’s new oil minister suggested demand would increase by 1.2 million barrels per day this year.
U.S. crude oil futures gained 0.85% to $43.81 at 10:00AM GMT, or 6:00AM ET, while Brent oil rose 1.51% to $44.29.
2. Dollar breaks through 109 yen on intervention talk
USD/JPY broke through the 109 psychological level on Tuesday after continued comments about possible intervention by the Japanese government.
Speaking Tuesday, Japan’s finance minister Taro Aso reiterated that Tokyo will intervene in the currency market if "one-sided" moves in the yen persist, while the country’s economy minister Nobuteru Ishihara said he was closely watching financial markets after the yen’s gains last week.
3. China inflation sparks debate on more easing measures
China’s consumer price inflation remained modest in April while producer prices showed that deflationary pressures slowed.
Analysts however reportedly disagreed whether the price trends were sufficient reason for the Chinese central bank to continue with additional accommodative measures.
4. Greek bond yields drop below 8% for first time in 6 months
Euro zone finance ministers discussed on Monday the possibility of debt relief with conditions for Athens, although final decisions on whether to unlock the next tranche of €5 billion in aid were once again pushed back to the next meeting of the Eurogroup on May 24.
Still the yield on 10-year Greek bonds reacted positively, breaking below 8% for the first time since November 2015.
5. Global stocks mostly higher with few economic data points ahead
With the exception of the Dow Jones Shanghai that ended down after the Chinese inflation data, Asian stocks were higher with the Nikkei 225 posting its largest gain in three weeks and the S&P/ASX All Australian 200 advancing 0.42%.
At 10:03AM GMT, or 6:03AM ET, European stocks markets moved broadly higher with the European benchmark Euro Stoxx 50 trading up 1.60%, the DAX gaining 1.08%, the CAC 40 advancing 1.06% and London's FTSE 100 adding 0.92%.
In the U.S., futures also pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.58% gain, S&P 500 futures a 0.60% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.52% advance.
In a light economic calendar day, markets will take the pulse of the labor market with the job openings report for March, while investors could also eye the March wholesale inventories that will both be released at 14:00GMT, or 10:00AM ET.