US stocks closed mixed on Wednesday as the disappointing ADP jobs report outweighed gains in tech stocks. A report from ADP showed private payrolls were cut by 20.2 million last month. As a result, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 fell for the first time in three days, having lost 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7% due to gains in big tech stocks. Facebook and Netflix rose 0.7% and 2.3%, respectively, while Apple finished 1% higher.
In Asia, stocks were also mixed on Thursday after the data showed China’s exports for April exceeding expectations while a private survey showed the services sector activity plunging. China’s Shanghai Composite finished 0.23% lower while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 0.74%. Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index dipped 0.32%.
European equities opened higher. During today’s meeting, the Bank of England left key rates and its bond-buying program unchanged but highlighted that it stands ready to take further action should the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic continue to deteriorate. The bank said it expects U.K. gross domestic product to fall by 14% over 2020 as a whole. The UK’s FTSE 100 adds nearly 0.8% on Thursday.
Elsewhere, the euro is making shallow recovery attempts after three days of losses but downside risks continue to persist as the pair struggles to regain the 1.08 handle. it looks like EURUSD will spend some time in a consolidation mode before resumes the bearish move. On the downside, the initial target arrives at 1.0760 and then at 1.0730.
In the oil market, Brent dipped below the $30 handle initially but regained the upside momentum and climbed back above $31 during the European session. It is possible that the futures will encounter profit-taking again on further bullish attempts as investor sentiment remains fragile, with concerns over demand persisting.
