Here are 4 tips for today's trading. This will help you decide where you should invest and what to look for:
1. Global market overview
1. Global market overview
U.S. stock futures are firmly in negative territory and nearly all European markets are declining in early trading. The Dax index in Germany is looking particularly weak as it dips by about 1%.
Most Asian markets also ended the day in negative territory.
One thing that is up is the VIX volatility index. As the name implies, the index tracks volatility levels in the market, and it's rising by about 9% Monday morning.
2. Investors capitalize in oil after three-week rally
2. Investors capitalize in oil after three-week rally
Oil prices fell on Monday as traders took profits after a strong rally last week on the back of optimism that a global supply glut may start to ease in the coming months.
On Friday, oil services company Baker Hughes said the number of U.S. oil drilling rigs, viewed as a proxy for activity in the sector, fell for the fifth straight week to the lowest level since November 2009.
U.S. crude oil futures dropped 1.35% to $43.14 at 9:51AM GMT, or 5:51AM ET, while Brent oil traded down 1.18% to $44.54.
3. Economics
3. Economics
In a light calendar day, U.S. new home sales will be the only major economic data point in the remainder of the session as investors focused on the agenda for later in the week.
Central banks will be in market participants’ sights with the conclusion of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on Wednesday and the Bank of Japan expected to cut its forecasts for growth and inflation when it makes its monetary policy decision on Thursday.
First quarter growth will also be as the U.S., U.K., euro zone or Canada release gross domestic product data throughout the week.
Also of note for the euro area, the European Central Bank will have the chance to digest preliminary inflation data for April on Friday.
4. Weekly market recap
4. Weekly market recap
The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 both finished the week in positive territory. The Dow was up 0.6% and the S&P 500 rose 0.5% over the course of the week.
However, the Nasdaq was dragged down on Friday after key tech stocks like Google (GOOGL, Tech30) and Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) fell. It lost 0.7% by the end of the week.
