OVERNIGHT MARKETS ROUND UP – 05/02/14

Wall Street bounced back late last night after a surge of bargain hunters bought up cheap stock. Encouraging earnings from a number of US corporations also helped the index rebound from its largest selloff in months. The S&P has fallen nearly 3 percent over the previous two sessions, the worse selloff since June 2013. The huge drops have been caused by weaker-than-expected US data and growing concerns about china growth. Asian stocks were also in the black, helped by an advance in Japanese stocks after a number of companies posted better-than-expected earnings. 

Meanwhile, European markets are showing a lower open as they fail to follow the US and Asian sessions. The FTSE is indicating a 16 point lower open as investors reduce risk ahead of the ADP Non-farm employment change data. Investors will be watching the data closely to gauge the strength of the US economy and ahead of the Non-Farm payrolls on Friday. The data is also an important milestone for investors to try gauge what the Federal Reserve’s next move will be. A stronger figure could support further stimulus cuts whilst a worse than forecast figure will show a weakening economy and therefore fuel further uncertainty into the markets. 

The Euro continued its decline against the Yen, moving toward a 10-week low ahead of European retail sales with many analysts believing retail sales actually contracted during the last month. Sugar maintained its longest rally in four months as drought threatened crop yields in Brazil. Many believe this drought is likely to continue over the next 10 days as the heat wave continues to move in. With Brazil being the world’s top producer and shipper, India have also postponed a plan to boost exports to help ease supply concerns.