Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Tuesday, April 3:
1. Wall Street set to rebound after equity selloff
After U.S. stocks closed with their worst start for April since 1929, futures pointed to a slight bounce in opening trade on Tuesday. At 5:53AM ET (9:53GMT), the blue-chip Dow futures gained 41 points, or 0.17%, S&P 500 futures rose 9 points, or 0.33%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures traded up 25 points, or 0.39%.
Wall Street shares plunged on Monday as investors fled technology stocks amid resurgent trade war worries, setting the tone for global equities.
Asian shares followed in Wall Street’s footsteps although losses in the major indices were more benign. Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended Tuesday down 0.5% while China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.8%.
European stock markets reopened their doors Tuesday after a four-day Easter weekend. Shares returned to trade with losses as the slump on Wall Street dampened sentiment. The tech sector was particularly hard hit as European chipmakers were weighed down by an overnight report that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) plans to manufacture its own chips.
2. Trade tensions hold headlines
Fears of an all-out trade war between China and the U.S. continued to center investors’ attention. Beijing on Monday slapped additional tariffs of up to 25% on about $3 billion worth of U.S. products in response to new U.S. duties on aluminum and steel imports.
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected this week to release list of Chinese imports targeted for U.S. tariffs to punish Beijing over technology transfer policies, a move expected to further intensify the strain between the world's two largest economies.
China will respond to any tariffs imposed by the U.S. against alleged violations of intellectual property rights with the same proportion, scale and intensity, its U.S. ambassador Cui Tiankai warned in an interview on Tuesday.
3. Oil heads higher despite oversupply concerns
Oil prices rose on Tuesday amid a potential slowdown in U.S. production, but were capped by rising Russian output and expectations of a reduction in Saudi Arabian crude prices.
Putting pressure on oil markets, it was revealed that top producer Russia pumped 10.97 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude in March, up from 10.95 million bpd in February, an 11 month high.
Furthermore, it was reported that top exporter Saudi Arabia is expected to cut prices for all crude grades it sells to Asia in May.
With this in the background, investors will also begin to turn their attention to weekly U.S. inventory data. The American Petroleum Institute will release its weekly crude stockpiles later on Tuesday ahead of the official government data out a day later. Economists have forecast a build of 1.7 million barrels.
U.S. crude oil futures rose 0.41% to $63.27 at 5:54AM ET (9:54GMT), while Brent oil traded up 0.44% to $67.94.
4. Dollar remains under pressure with Fed speakers on deck
The dollar slipped lower against a basket of the other major currencies on Tuesday as rising global trade tensions continued to weigh on market sentiment
At 5:55AM ET (9:55GMT), the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, slipped 0.04% at 89.65.
With no major economic reports on Tuesday’s calendar, markets will pay close attention to comments from a couple of Federal Reserve speakers for insights into the outlook for monetary policy.
Both Minnesota Fed president Neel Kashkari and Fed governor Lael Brainard were scheduled for appearances Tuesday.
5. Spotify given reference price of $132 ahead of direct listing
Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT) is pursuing an unusual direct listing to reach the public markets in place of an initial public offering, and shares are expected to start trading on Tuesday.
On Monday, the New York Stock Exchange set the reference price for shares of music streaming service at $132.
While the stock was reportedly moving around this number in informal trading, this is not necessarily the opening public price which will be determined by market makers. The opening public price will be determined by buy and sell orders collected by the NYSE from broker-dealers.
Based on those orders, the opening price will then be set based on a designated market maker’s determination of where buy orders can be matched with sell orders at a single price.