Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Tuesday, June 6:
1. Global stocks slip in risk-off trade
Global stock markets were mostly lower on Tuesday, as investors shunned riskier assets ahead of potentially market-moving events later this week, including former FBI Director James Comey's testimony to a Senate committee, the U.K.’s general election and a European Central Bank meeting.
Asian shares ended mostly in negative territory, with Japan's Nikkei closing down around 1%, while China's Shanghai Composite tacked on about 0.3%.
In Europe, stocks across the continent fell to a one-week low, with Germany's DAX sliding 0.5% in mid-morning trade, while London's FTSE 100 slumped 0.3%.
On Wall Street, the blue-chip Dow futures pointed to a decline of 24 points, or around 0.1% at the open, the S&P 500 futures ticked down 4 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures shed 5 points.
2. Dollar slides to lowest level since November
The dollar slumped to seven-month lows against a basket of major currencies on Tuesday, as investors grew more cautious amid fears over looming geopolitical risks.
Reduced expectations for aggressive U.S. rate hikes from the Federal Reserve in the second half of the year further weighed on the greenback.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was down 0.1% at 96.69 in New York morning trade. It fell to an overnight low of 96.49, a level not seen since November 9.
The euro was little changed against the dollar at around 1.1250, edging back toward a seven-month high of 1.1285 reached on Friday.
Sterling was a shade higher at 1.2915 against the greenback, following its rise overnight to a 10-day high of 1.2950.
3. Havens rally ahead of risk events
Investor sentiment remained skewed toward safe-haven assets such as the Japanese yen, gold and Treasures ahead of key risk events slated for later this week.
The dollar slid 0.7% against the yen to 109.68 on Tuesday, after hitting its lowest since April 21 at 109.56 earlier in the session.
Meanwhile, gold futures rose to a session peak of $1,292.41 a troy ounce, a level not seen since April 19. It was last at $1,291.03, up $8.30, or about 0.7%
Elsewhere, the U.S. 10-Year bond yield slipped 2.5 basis points to 2.156%, not far from last week's seven-month low of 2.144%.
4. Oil prices continue to move lower
Oil prices continued to move lower on concerns that a diplomatic rift between Qatar and several Arab states including Saudi Arabia could undermine efforts by OPEC to tighten the market.
U.S. crude was at $47.28 a barrel, down 13 cents, or around 0.3%, while Brent shed 12 cents to $49.35.
5. Bitcoin tops $2,800 for first time
Bitcoin cleared the $2,800-level for the first time on Tuesday to hit yet another all-time high, as a monster rally continues amid bullish noises around the future of the cryptocurrency.
Prices of the digital currency rose to a daily peak of $2,873.30 on the U.S.-based GDAX exchange at one point, its highest on record. Other big exchanges such as Poloniex, Bitfinex and BitStamp also showed the cryptocurrency around the $2,800-level early Tuesday.
Since the start of the year, the price of bitcoin has soared roughly 195%, taking the total value of the cryptocurrency in circulation to around $46 billion.
Bullishness around bitcoin has stoked appetite for other cryptocurrencies. One in particular known as Ethereum is gaining traction.
Ethereum has risen from $8.24 on January 1, to a high of $259.15 on Tuesday. This represents a whopping 2,840% increase year-to-date.