Moscow and Kyiv will resume peace talks online on April 1
Wall Street stocks slid overnight, ending a winning streak for the market as oil prices rallied after Germany warned of potential rationing of natural gas due to disputes with Russia. On the data front, the ADP report showed that private payrolls expanded by 455,000 in March. The figure was roughly in line with expectations but the lowest monthly total since August 2021.
In individual stocks, RH fell over 13% after the company’s fourth-quarter revenue came in short of expectations. As such, the S&P 500 fell 0.63%, the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.21% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.19%, to 35,228.81. US stock index futures were pointing higher as Ukraine said that Moscow and Kyiv will resume peace talks online on April 1.
Following suit, Asian equity markets fell on Thursday amid persisting uncertainty surrounding Ukraine and weak economic data out of China as the Omicron outbreaks in many cities led to lockdowns. The country’s official manufacturing PMI fell to 49.5 in March, down from 50.2 in February, coming in below the median forecast of 49.8. As such, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.56%, led by a 1.16% drop for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index while Shanghai Composite gave up nearly 0.5%.
In currencies, the dollar USD index encountered a barrier around May 2020 highs around 99.40 at the start of the week before turning lower as risk-on tone reemerged across the markets. As a result, the greenback extended the retreat to 97.70, staying under pressure on Thursday. Now, traders’ focus shifts to the key US jobs data due tomorrow. Should the figures surprise to the downside, the selling pressure surrounding the greenback will intensify ahead of the weekend.
Oil prices fell on Thursday as the United States weighed its largest-ever drawdown from its oil reserves. Washington is considering releasing up to 180 million barrels of oil over several months from strategic reserves. As a result, Brent crude gave up 5% to derives support around $105 a barrel before bouncing towards $107 in early European deals.
