US Stocks Open with Modest Gain
Major US equity indices on Thursday opened trading on a positive note, taking cues from higher crude oil prices.
In
early trade, Dow Jones Industrial Average opened 0.2% higher at 17,690,
while S&P 500 advance 0.2% to 2,055. Tech heavy, Nasdaq Composite
index also opened with a gain of 0.2% at 4,734. Thursday's positive
opening marks first positive session in three days for Wall Street.
The
optimism spreading from higher oil prices seems to negate weak Chinese
PMI data and a rise in weekly jobless claims from the US.
The
Caixin China services PMI slipped to 51.8 in April from 52.2 in March,
indicating services activity in the world's second largest economy
expanded at a slower pace in April.
Meanwhile, data released by
the Labor Department showed US initial jobless claims climbing 17,000
to 274,000 during the week ended April 29. Although the reading was well
above the consensus estimates of 260,000 but was still near historic
low levels, indicating the inherent strength in the US labor market.
Later
during the day, investors will scrutinize St. Louis Fed President James
Bullard speech on 'The economy and Fed policy' at the University of
California Santa Barbara.
European markets erase early gains
The
European indices too opened on a strong footing after four-days of
losing streak but lost momentum on the back of poor UK services PMI,
which kept investors on the back foot.
In other markets, Asia had
a quiet day of trading, with few markets in the region (Japan and South
Korea) closed for holiday. Hong-Kong’s HangSeng Index finished lower by
0.4%, while the Shanghai Composite and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 were
up by 0.2%.
