Germany’s economy faces steep recession if Russian oil and gas were to be cut off
Wall Street stocks managed to finish with gains on the first trading day of April after a volatile session. The S&P 500 rose 0.34%, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.29%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.40%. The jobs report for March showed that the US economy added 431,000 jobs versus 490,000 expected. As the data came in not as bad as many would have feared, investors cheered the figures. For the week, the S&P 500 gained marginally, the Dow declined 0.12%, and the Nasdaq added 0.65%.
Asian equity markets were mostly higher on Monday, with investors staying cautious as Russia-Ukraine conflict has escalated over the weekend. Against this backdrop, European governments are discussing new sanctions against Russia. As such, Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged up 0.25%, South Korean Kospi gained 0.66%, while Hong Hong’s Hang Seng rallied 2.1%. While Chinese markets were closed for a holiday, a new subtype of the omicron variant was detected in the country.
In Europe, equities opened slightly higher before turning mixed in recent trading as risk-on tone started to abate amid resurgent geopolitical concerns. Adding to a more cautious tone, fresh data out of the Eurozone showed that Sentix investor confidence index for April came in at -18.0 versus -9.2 expected. Elsewhere, Association of German Banks said the country’s economy faces steep recession if Russian oil and gas were to be cut off. In another sign of waning optimism in the markets, US stock index futures are trading lower in early pre-market hours.
Meanwhile, the dollar struggles for direction at the start of the week, holding below the 99.00 figure during the European hours. The USD index turned slightly higher in recent trading and was last seen challenging the 98.70 zone. As such, EURUSD has settled around 1.1020 after another rejection from the 1.1050 local resistance that caps the way towards the 1.1100 level. In the near-term, downside risks surrounding the common currency continue to persist.
