Asian Morning Brief APR 23 THU

Asian Morning Brief: APR 23 (THU)

On Wednesday U.S. stocks rebounded as investors were relieved by oil prices recovering from record lows.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 456 points (+2.0%) to 23,475, the S&P 500 rose 62 points (+2.3%) to 2,799, and the Nasdaq 100 was up 261 points (+3.1%) to 8,664.

Nasdaq 100 Index: Daily Chart

Source: GAIN Capital, TradingView

Semiconductor Equipment (+6.01%), Consumer Services (+4.71%) and Software & Services (+3.61%) sectors led the market.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG +12.2%), Lam Research (LRCX +11.6%), Twitter (TWTR +10.5%), Halliburton (HAL +10.3%) and Expedia (EXPE +7.3%) were among the biggest gainers.

Facebook (FB +6.7%) announced plan to acquire a 10% stake in Jio Platforms, India's largest mobile services provider, for 5.7 billion dollars.

Meanwhile, Biogen (BIIB -9.4%) and L Brands (LB -15.5%) suffered significant losses.

On the technical side, about 17.4% of stocks in the S&P 500 Index were trading above their 200-day moving average and 66.5% were trading above their 20-day moving average.

Later today, investors will focus on U.S. reports on Initial Jobless Claims for the week ended April 18 (4.500 million expected), the Markit U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index for April (preliminary reading, 35.0 expected), and New Home Sales for March (an annualized rate of 640,000 units expected).

Meanwhile, the U.S, Senate passed another coronavirus relief package worth 484 billion dollars.

In Germany, shops are allowed to open, while people should wear face masks in public as a compulsory act.

European stocks were broadly higher, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index rising 1.8%. Germany's DAX climbed 1.6%, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 increased 2.3%, and France's CAC was up 1.3%.

U.S. Treasury prices eased, lifting the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield up by 4.7 basis points to 0.618%.

Spot gold bounced 28 dollars (+1.7%) to $1,713 an ounce.

Oil prices showed signs of relief from dramatic losses in prior sessions, as investors expected demand for fuel to rebound along with the U.S. economy reopening. Oil prices were also boosted by heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran. President Donald Trump said he has ordered the U.S. Navy to shoot down and destroy Iranian gunboats if they provok U.S. ships in the region.

U.S. WTI crude oil futures jumped 19.1% to $13.78 a barrel. Brent crude oil futures marked a 21-year low of $16.01 a barrel before bouncing back to settle at $20.37 a barrel, up 5.4% on day.

From time to time, StoneX Financial Pty Ltd (“we”, “our”) website may contain links to other sites and/or resources provided by third parties. These links and/or resources are provided for your information only and we have no control over the contents of those materials, and in no way endorse their content. Any analysis, opinion, commentary or research-based material on our website is for information and educational purposes only and is not, in any circumstances, intended to be an offer, recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell. You should always seek independent advice as to your suitability to speculate in any related markets and your ability to assume the associated risks, if you are at all unsure. No representation or warranty is made, express or implied, that the materials on our website are complete or accurate. We are not under any obligation to update any such material.

As such, we (and/or our associated companies) will not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage incurred by you or any third party arising out of, or in connection with, any use of the information on our website (other than with regards to any duty or liability that we are unable to limit or exclude by law or under the applicable regulatory system) and any such liability is hereby expressly disclaimed.

City Index is a trading name of StoneX Financial Pty Ltd.

The material provided herein is general in nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs.

While every care has been taken in preparing this material, we do not provide any representation or warranty (express or implied) with respect to its completeness or accuracy. This is not an invitation or an offer to invest nor is it a recommendation to buy or sell investments.

StoneX recommends you to seek independent financial and legal advice before making any financial investment decision. Trading CFDs and FX on margin carries a higher level of risk, and may not be suitable for all investors. The possibility exists that you could lose more than your initial investment further CFD investors do not own or have any rights to the underlying assets.

It is important you consider our Financial Services Guide and Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) available at www.cityindex.com/en-au/terms-and-policies/, before deciding to acquire or hold our products. As a part of our market risk management, we may take the opposite side of your trade. Our Target Market Determination (TMD) is also available at www.cityindex.com/en-au/terms-and-policies/.

StoneX Financial Pty Ltd, Suite 28.01, 264 George Street, Sydney, NSW 2000 (ACN 141 774 727, AFSL 345646) is the CFD issuer and our products are traded off exchange.