World News | Stock Market Today: US Futures Point Higher Amid US Debt Ceiling Fight, Busy Week for Retail
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Wall Street appeared headed for gains early Monday ahead of a busy week in retail, with a backdrop of debt ceiling negotiations between President Joe Biden and Republican lawmakers.
New York, May 15 (AP) Wall Street appeared headed for gains early Monday ahead of a busy week in retail, with a backdrop of debt ceiling negotiations between President Joe Biden and Republican lawmakers.
Futures for the Dow Jones industrials and the S&P 500 rose 0.4 per cent before the bell.
Home Depot, Target and Walmart report earnings this week, which should provide some more clues as to how retailers and their shoppers are coping with rising prices and a slowing economy.
Companies have largely been reporting solid quarterly earnings, though expectations have been modest.
Also Read | EAM S Jaishankar Holds Meeting With Sweden PM Ulf Kristersson, NSA Henrik Landerholm in Stockholm.
On Tuesday, the Commerce Department releases US retail sales data for April. In March, Americans cut their spending at stores for the second straight month, suggesting Americans are becoming more cautious.
Markets remain prey to worries about recession, high inflation and the US government inching toward what could be a catastrophic default on its debt.
President Joe Biden and congressional leaders postponed a meeting set for Friday on the debt limit crisis to next week, but the delay was billed as a sign of progress and staff-level talks continued through the weekend.
The Federal Reserve has been hiking interest rates to drive down inflation. Recent reports suggest price increases are moderating though inflation is remains too high for the comfort of households and regulators.
The hope on Wall Street is that easing inflation may convince the Fed to hold off on raising rates again at its next meeting in June. That would offer some breathing room to both the economy, which has slowed under the weight of higher rates, and to financial markets, where prices began falling long ago.
Over the weekend, finance ministers of the Group of Seven advanced economies wrapped up a meeting in Japan with a call for vigilance given many uncertainties for the global economy.
However, they also said financial systems have shown resilience despite recent failures of several banks in the US and Europe. No mention was made of the urgency of resolving the debt ceiling standoff between Biden and Republicans.
Elsewhere, at midday in Europe, Germany's DAX inched up 0.1 per cent, the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.2 per cent and Britain's FTSE 100 climbed 0.4 per cent.
This week also will bring major updates on the Japanese and Chinese economies. The latter has been showing signs of slowing after an initial recovery from disruptions caused by the pandemic.
“The sharp moderation in China's economic surprise index since the start of the month suggests that economic data are turning in less optimistic than before, which puts some doubts on markets' reopening bets,” Yeap Jun Rong, a market analyst at IG, said in a commentary.
A preliminary survey released Friday said consumer confidence in the economy is faltering as worries persist over the risk of a recession and a possible default on the US government's debt. But hopes for a resolution to a standoff over raising the debt ceiling appeared to be rising.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 0.8 per cent to 29,626.34. The index has been trading near its highest level since the early 1990s, with buying spurred by strong corporate earnings reports and signs that inflationary pressures might be easing.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged 1.8 per cent to 19,971.13 while the Shanghai Composite index bounced back from early losses, gaining 1.2 per cent to 3,310.74. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1 per cent higher to 7,267.10, while the Kospi in South Korea picked up 0.2 per cent to 2,479.35.
Benchmarks fell in Turkey and Thailand following weekend election upsets for their ruling parties.
In other trading Monday, US benchmark crude oil rose 66 cents to USD 70.70 per barrel. It lost 83 cents on Friday to USD 70.04 per barrel.
Brent crude, the pricing basis for international trading, gained 63 to USD 74.80 per barrel.
The US dollar rose to 136.03 Japanese yen from 135.69 yen on Friday. The euro was trading at USD 1.0880, up from USD 1.0854.
On Friday, the S&P 500 lost 0.2 per cent while the Dow ended barely lower. The Nasdaq gave up 0.4 per cent. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)