- Yesterday's session on Wall Street was driven by major technology companies, which contributed to a 1.65% rise in the Nasdaq 100, with continued weakness in stocks from cyclical industries.
- Amazon rose to a new all-time high, and Apple recorded its best session in months, gaining 4.3% after revealing the introduction of AI M4 chips into new Mac computers
- Asia-Pacific indexes closed the session mostly lower. China's Hang Seng lost more than 1.4%, and South Korea's KOSPI slid 0.86%. Japan's Nikkei and Topix rose slightly 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively, and Australia's benchmark ASX lost 0.37%.
- New Zealand's manufacturing PMI indicated 47.1 versus 49.3 forecasts, and Singapore's GDP rose 2.7% y/y versus 3% forecasts and 2.2% previously
- Japan's industrial production fell -3.9% y/y vs. -3.4% forecasts and -1.5% decline previously The seasonally adjusted reading indicated -0.6% m/m vs. -0.1% expectations and -6.7% previously.
- Precious metals gain. Silver recorded a 1.3% rally and approached $29 per ounce, and spot gold rose to historic highs; contracts traded 0.7% higher at $2384 per ounce.
- Wall Street index futures are trading marginally higher and European futures on the DAX, or FTSE, also suggest a slightly higher opening in Europe
- The U.S. dollar continues to gain, with USDIDX greenback index futures gaining more than 0.11% and EURUSD trading at 1.071.
- USDJPY is trading down slightly after reaching 153.25 where supply has once again been triggered. Minster Suzuki indicated that the bank will not rule out currency intervention, and the topic of weakening the yen will continue in the G20 framework
- Brent Crude oil is trading slightly higher, but managed to return above the psychological resistance level at $90 per barrel
- ECB's Kazak's conveyed that if nothing unexpected happens, the ECB will cut rates in June
- Bitcoin and Ethereum are up more than 1.3% and overall cryptocurrency market sentiment suggests a slight improvement, 8 days ahead of BTC's scheduled halving
