US stocks bounce back as Middle East tensions ease

US stocks bounced back in US trading as Middle East tensions eased and investors turned their attention to the release of major company earnings results.

The Dow Jones closed up 0.67 per cent, the S&P 500 closed 0.87 per cent higher and the Nasdaq bounced back 1.11 per cent. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended a six-day losing streak.

In company news, AI giant Nvidia bounced back 4.4 per cent after Friday’s sell off. Investors will now turn their attention to corporate earnings as 30 per cent of the S&P constituents are due to report results this week alone. Companies due to report this week include Tesla, Meta Platforms, American Airlines, Microsoft and Alphabet.

On the inflation front this week US investors will be looking to GDP numbers due out on Thursday and a key inflation reading on Friday, when the Commerce Department reports personal consumption expenditures price index data for March. The PCE deflator is the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. The Fed meets again April 30 to May 1, with officials now in the quiet period ahead of the meeting.

In commodities news, copper rallied towards $US10,000 a ton, hitting a new two-year high on its way. Gold fell the most since February 2023, down as much as 2.5 per cent to trade as low as $US2,331.22 an ounce after a five-week rally.

Crude oil futures drifted lower in Monday trading on comments from the Iranian Foreign Minister, that Iran would not respond to the Israeli strikes on Friday last week. The WTI settled at $82.85 a barrel, with Brent closing at $87 a barrel.

Turning to US sectors, all sectors finished in the green with Technology being the best performing sector closing up 1.28 per cent and Materials the worst performing sector closing up 0.1 per cent.

Turning to local markets, the Australian consumer price index for the March quarter will be released on Wednesday and is forecast to show an acceleration to 0.8 per cent, from 0.6 per cent. This would take the annual pace to 3.4 per cent, from 4.1 per cent in the 12 months to the end of December. Such a result would still be well outside the RBA’s 2 per cent to 3 per cent target range.

Futures

The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.3 per cent gain.

Currency

One Australian dollar at 7.25am was buying 64.47 US cents.

Commodities

Gold has lost 2.79 per cent. Silver has dropped 5.52 per cent. Copper has fallen 0.44 per cent. Oil is down 0.35 per cent.

Figures around the globe

European markets closed higher. London’s FTSE gained 1.62 per cent, Frankfurt added 0.70 per cent, and Paris closed 0.22 per cent higher.

Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 1.00 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.77 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.67 per cent lower.

The Australian share market closed 1.08 per cent higher at 7,649.16.

Dividends payable
Namoi Cotton Ltd (ASX:NAM) is paying 1 cents unfranked

Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.

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