EQUITIES
S&P 500 Index : $2,789.82, gain 39.84 points or 1.45%
Dow Jones Industrial Average : $23,719.37, gain 285.80 points or 1.22%
Nasdaq Composite Index : $8,153.58, gain 62.67 points or 0.77%
Europe exchanges also recording gain as London's FTSE 100 up 2.90%, Germany's DAX up 2.24% and France's CAC 40 up 1.44%. Italy's closed 1.39% higher and pan-European Stoxx 600 index gain 1.57% closed Thursday.
Asian markets are open in green in early trade except for Japan's Nikkei 225 which is still finding footing shedding -0.05%, other counters including Hong Kong's Hang Seng recording gains of 1.38%, China's Shanghai Composite 0.39%, SENSEX recording 4.23%, Singapore’s gain 1.27%, South Korea’s KOSPI gains 0.38%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gains 3.46% in early trading.
OIL
Brent crude futures ended the session lower on Thursday at $31.48 per barrel, tumbled at least $1 while WTI crude futures lose more than $2, to $22.76 per barrel.
Currently, Brent is trading at $32.03 per barrel and WTI is trading at $23.19 per barrel as of writing time (UTC+8).
CURRENCIES
Dollar tumbles ahead of a long weekend. The U.S. DXY previously closed 99.56 and stand at 99.62 latest, compared with a basket of its major peers.
Except depreciation against for Swedish Krone SEK at -0.01%, dollar advances against other currencies. Including MXN (0.77%), NZD (0.38%), AUD (0.35%), CAD (0.19%), NOK (0.17%), CHF (0.16%), RUB (0.13%), EUR (0.07%), JPY (0.06%), DKK (0.06%), GBP (0.04%), and SGD (0.03%).
GOLD
Gold currently trading at $1,685.60 per ounce, while stands around $1,752.80 per ounce for gold futures as of writing time. Previously closed at 1,645.50 and 1,748.73, respectively.
Silver trading at $15.40, platinum trading at $751.00 and palladium trading at $2,057.00.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
After a marathon meeting that lasted more than nine hours, OPEC and OPEC+, on Thursday agreed to historic production cuts of 10 million barrels per day in May and June, 8 million barrels per day from July through the end of the year, and 6 million barrels per day beginning in January 2021 until April 2022.
Major U.S. banks are preparing to become operators of oil and gas fields across the country for the first time in a generation to avoid losses on loans to energy companies that may go bankrupt. The industry is estimated to owe more than $200 billion to lenders through loans backed by oil and gas reserves. As revenue has plummeted and assets have declined in value, some companies are saying they may be unable to repay.
A staggering 16.8 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits in the last three weeks, with new claims topping 6 million.
European Union finance ministers agreed yesterday on half-a-trillion euros worth of support for their coronavirus-battered economies.
To date, number of confirmed worldwide cases for COVID-19 pandemic has now reached more than 1,604,000 today affecting 209 countries and territories around the world, recording more than 96,000 fatality globally.
TECHNICAL OUTLOOK
[EURUSD]
Pair’s price was in a downward trend and a rounding bottom formed before the trend reversed and entered a bullish uptrend. It then entered a symmetrical triangle, and as there were several brief period of upward reversals, we expect the pair to uptrend.
