Building on Friday’s gains of 0.3%-0.4% for the three main US indices plus the S&P/TSX Composite, US index futures are trading flat to up 0.4% with NASDAQ futures leading the charge. Over in Europe, the Dax and FTSE are flat, while in Asia Pacific trading, the Hang Seng gained 2.1%.
Energy and metals markets are bouncing back this morning from last week’s declines. WTI crude oil is up 1.2%, Brent Crude is up 1.0%, natural gas and gasoline are both up about 0.6%. Meanwhile, copper, gold and platinum are all up about 0.6% and silver is up 1.2%. Cryptocurrency trading has been relatively quiet while in forex action, the most notable moves have been a 0.2% gain for the Canadian Dollar and a 0.4% decline for the Euro.
Sentiment in Europe appears to be getting impacted from concern that developments from the changing war in Ukraine could potentially lead to a new round of sanctions. It has been a quiet morning for economic news with the next notable developments being Australia’s central bank meeting tonight, and Service PMI reports from around the world tomorrow.
Trading in Twitter today could provide an interesting test of investor confidence. In recent weeks, investors have been dipping their toes back into the markets, led by rebounds in NASDAQ and the Russell 2000. This morning, Twitter shares are up 19.6% in premarket action in the news that Elon Musk has amassed a 9.6% stake in the social media company. The ability of the stock to maintain these early gains through the day today, or not, may provide a barometer of investors current enthusiasm for speculation and their willingness to take on risk.
