NEW YORK, 2nd July, 2024 (WAM) -- Wall Street veered toward losses before the open on Tuesday, while oil prices rose to their highest level since mid-April, pushing shares of energy companies higher.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.3 percent before the bell and futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent, the Associated Press reported.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 73 cents to US$84.11 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The cost for a barrel of U.S. crude had risen almost 18 percent this year, though gas prices have remained relatively low compared with 2023.
Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, BP and Chevron all made modest gains in contrast to declines in the broader market.
Brent crude, the international standard, added 70 cents to US$87.30 per barrel. A barrel is up 13 percent in 2024.
Paramount Global, which has been a takeover target for months, rose 3.1 percent on reports that there were multiple offers for its controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone’s National Amusements.
Upcoming data
There is new data arriving on Tuesday from the government on job openings for May. More labour market data is coming later in the week, with jobless claims on Wednesday and the government's comprehensive June jobs report coming on Friday.
The labour market has held up better than most experts expected after the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates in March of 2022, however some softness is beginning to show. Applications for jobless benefits are trending higher in June after remaining mostly below 220,000 this year. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4 percent in May, despite the fact that U.S. employers added a strong 272,000 jobs last month. Job postings for April hit their lowest level since 2021.
European markets
European stocks fell significantly after the 20-nation bloc reported that inflation crept lower — to 2.5 percent in June — but remained stuck above the level favored by the European Central Bank.
Germany’s DAX lost 1.1 percent and Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.4 percent.
France’s CAC 40 dropped 1 percent in early trading. The benchmark jumped as much as 2.8 percent before settling to a gain of 1.1 percent on Monday as results from France suggested a far-right political party may not win a decisive majority in the country’s legislative elections.
That raised the possibility of gridlock in the French government, which would prevent a worst-case scenario where a far-right with a clear majority could push policies that would greatly increase the French government’s debt.
This is a big year for elections worldwide, with voters heading to the polls in the United Kingdom later this week and soon elsewhere. In the United States, pollsters are measuring the fallout from last week’s debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Asian markets
In Asia, Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 1.1 percent to 40,074.69 as the weaker yen spurred buying of export-oriented shares.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.4 percent to 7,718.20 and South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.8 percent to 2,780.86 despite data from Statistics Korea showing the country’s consumer inflation slowed to an 11-month low in June.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.3 percent to 17,769.14 and the Shanghai Composite index edged up 0.1 percent to 2,997.01.
Taiwan’s Taiex gained 0.6 percent, while the SET in Bangkok slipped 0.5 percent.
The Japanese yen fell to near a fresh 38-year low, reaching 161.67 yen to the dollar early Tuesday. It later gained to 161.62.
The euro cost US$1.0723, down from US$1.0738.
On Monday, the S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1 percent. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.8 percent.