U.S. & European Stock Futures Climb as Oil Prices Ricochet

The Index Today — The U.S. and European stock futures experienced significant growth on Monday while Asian markets fell behind. With Saudi Arabia hiking crude oil prices, oil recovered as bonds relinquished a portion of their latter-day profits.

Concerns surrounding Omicron persist as cases of the new variant crop up in about a third of the states in the U.S. However, experts in South Africa have reported only moderate symptoms of the virus.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares beyond Japan dipped to 0.5%, prompting a more vigilant trade approach.

Although the Japanese government deliberated elevating the country’s economic growth forecast to justify the $490 billion stimulus package, Nikkei rounded up with a modest 0.5%.

With Premier Li Keqiang declaring a “timely” reduction in the reserve requirement ratios (RRR) of banks, the Chinese blue chips witnessed a 0.6% profit.

The China Evergrande Group’s shares plummeted by 11% after the company remained on the fence regarding funds to cover debts.

With S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq gaining 0.4% and 0.1% respectively, Wall Street considered rallying post the late slide on Friday. EUROSTOXX 50 futures acquired 1.1% while FTSE made 1.1% in profits.

Reports show that the futures markets are set to increase by 0.25% in May and 0.5% by November in 2022.

Although November reports posited grim unemployment figures for the U.S., the current consensus saw a 1.1 million increase in jobs which has reduced the unemployment rate to 4.2%.

The increase in short-term rates has helped to bolster the U.S. dollar especially against currencies deemed sensitive to the effects of the Omicron virus.

The value of Bitcoin has surged to $48,954 after declining to $41, 967 during the weekend.

Although gold saw an increase in gains in the wake of plummeting long-term bond yields, it has been performing laterally within a range of $1,720 to $1,870 over the past few months. The latest reports indicate a stability at $1,784 per ounce on Monday.