After finishing flat to slightly lower on Friday, US markets are trading flat to slightly higher this morning, led by a 0.3% gain in NASDAQ futures. Investors continue to weigh the implications of last week’s disappointing U.S. employment numbers, balancing the potential for interest rate cuts against the risks a slowing economy poses to corporate earnings.
In Europe today, the CAC is up 0.4% ahead of today’s non-confidence vote in France’s parliament. The DAX is up 0.3% and the FTSE is up 0.1%. Staying with politics, the Nikkei rallied 1.4% on weekend news that Japan’s Prime Minister is resigning.
Crude Oil is soaring this morning gaining 2.2% after OPEC+ slowed the pace of production increases to 137mbbls/d from its last increase of 555mbbls/d. Natural Gas is up 3.2%.
Currency action is subdued with the Euro, Loonie, Yen and Pound all up 0.1%-0.3% against the US Dollar. Gold is steady near $3,650/oz. Silver continues to climb with a 0.7% gain taking it close to $42.00/oz. Copper is up 0.3%
In economic news, Chinese exports (4.4% vs Street 5.0% and previous 7.2%) and imports both came in below expectations. It’s a light week for data with the main event being US consumer prices on Tuesday. The only earning report of note is Oracle after the close tomorrow.