Oil prices posted a 6 percent drop on Friday, down $11 from the recent high of $125 a barrel. Could this sharp drop be a trigger for a rally in the stock market?
The US markets are closed today so there will be no real signals in terms of how the global markets are positioned etc. and the SGX Nifty indicates a slightly lower start, perhaps correcting higher by the time the market opens.
Global markets showed signs of pulling back, but concerns about aggressive COVID-era interest rate hikes and their impact on economic growth kept investors on the defensive.
Stocks in other Asian markets fell on Monday as US futures gave back early gains amid concerns the Fed would this week underline its commitment to fighting inflation with aggressive rate hikes if necessary. MSCI’s broader index of Asia Pacific stocks outside of Japan fell 0.9 percent at the last count.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.3 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite 0.6 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 0.8 percent.
S&P 500 futures were down 0.1 percent ahead of Monday’s holiday. On Friday, all three major Wall Street indices were mixed, with the S&P 500 up 0.2 percent. The Nasdaq Composite of technology shares gained 1.4 percent, but the Dow Jones fell 0.1 percent.
Benchmark Indian equity indices ended a choppy session slightly lower on Friday, extending losses to a sixth straight session, dragged down by weakness in IT shares, though strength in financials capped the decline.