Here are 4 tips for today's trading. This will help you decide where you should invest and what to look for:
1. Saudi effect
1. Saudi effect
Oil prices are jumping by about 2% to trade above $45 per barrel after Saudi Arabia ousted long-serving oil minister Ali al-Naimi. He was replaced by Khalid al-Falih, the chairman of state-owned oil firm Saudi Aramco.
The top-level job shuffle is seen as a power move by deputy crown prince Mohamed bin Salman, who is working to consolidate his grip on the economy.
Oil makes up 87% of Saudi Arabia's revenues - but bin Salman is trying to diversify the economy.
2. Dollar rises to 2-week as JPY slumps on intervention warning
2. Dollar rises to 2-week as JPY slumps on intervention warning
The greenback firmed broadly against its major counterparts, while the yen slumped to two-week lows after Japan’s finance minister said officials were prepared to intervene in the currency market to stem the yen’s gains if necessary.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose to 94.05 in early trade, the most since April 28.
The dollar rose to 107.95 against the yen, well above the recent 18-month trough of 105.55, after Japan’s Finance Minister Taro Aso said that Tokyo is ready to intervene in the currency market if excessive moves in the yen are enough to affect Japan’s trade, economic and fiscal policies.
3. Gold slides back down to $1,280
3. Gold slides back down to $1,280
Gold futures slumped $14.50, or 1.1%, to $1,279.85 a troy ounce on Monday, as investors viewed Friday’s U.S. jobs data as less disappointing than first thought.
The Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy added 160,000 jobs last month, the smallest increase since September and well below the 202,000 jobs forecast by economists. The unemployment rate remained steady at 5%.
The one bright sport of the report showed that average hourly earnings rose by eight cents or 0.3%, bringing the year-on-year increase to 2.5% from 2.3% in March.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper futures sank to four-week lows on worries over China's economy, while iron ore prices plunged 9% after port stockpiles in China expanded to the highest in more than a year.
4. Global stock market overview and recap
4. Global stock market overview and recap
U.S. stock futures are sitting pretty ahead of the open. Stocks are set to open roughly where they left off on Friday.
Many European markets are rising by about 1% in early trading.
Asian markets ended the day with mixed results. Chinese stock markets were particularly weak following the release of worse-than-expected Chinese export data in April.
Stock markets didn't seem to have much direction last week and ultimately lost ground over the five trading days.
The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.2%, the S&P 500 declined by 0.4% and the Nasdaq dropped by 0.8%.
