Shares gained on Monday, with the STOXX 600 0.25% higher and S&P 500 futures up 0.36% after MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.8%
World stocks recovered some losses on Monday and bonds, oil and gold slipped as investors reversed some of their more defensive positions taken going into the weekend on concerns of a wider Middle East conflict.
The week ahead is packed with corporate earnings, with 158 firms in the S&P 500 and 173 firms in the STOXX 600 reporting first quarter results this week as per data from LSEG workspace.
These include several big European banks, as well as U.S. tech giants Microsoft and Alphabet, with the latter in particular focus after chip maker Nvidia’s 10% decline on Friday, its biggest percentage drop in four years.
Crucial U.S. PCE inflation data, the Fed’s preferred gauge, due Friday, finishes off the week. After CPI data earlier this month, markets currently see the first Fed rate cut coming in September.
Ahead of all that, shares gained on Monday, with the STOXX 600 0.25% higher and S&P 500 futures up 0.36% after MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.8%. All dropped on Friday.
London’s commodities-heavy FTSE100 gained nearly 1%, the biggest gainer among large European benchmarks, as tin and nickel advanced to new moult-month highs.
It was outpaced by a 2.3% advance for the Portuguese index as oil company Galp Energia had a STOXX 600 topping 17% surge after saying a field off Namibia could contain 10 billion barrels of oil.
In a further reversal of Friday’s “rise off” mood, gold dropped from near its peaks, U.S. Treasury yields rose and crude oil prices dropped as the potential for a major supply disruption waned.
In recent weeks, investors have taken cautious positions on Fridays fearing an escalation in the conflict in the Middle East over the weekend when markets are closed and they are unable to trade.
