Equity Markets

US stocks seesawed on Wednesday and tumbled again in the final hour of trading. The immediate attention was on the unemployment report which reiterated the angst in the labour market.

Wall Street ended on a mixed note driven by corporate earnings results and economic data:

• Dow Jones Average Industrial lost 218 points or 0.9% to 23,664.
• S&P500 fell by 20 points or 0.7% to 2,848.
• Nasdaq Composite added 45 points or 0.5% to 8,854.

Currency Markets

In the FX space, major currencies were weaker against the US dollar in the European and US session. The greenback gained strength as risk sentiment faltered. Commodity-linked currencies traded higher in the Asian session backed by higher commodity prices but fell in the later sessions.

The US dollar, which tracks the performance of a basket of currencies against the greenback, rose above the 100 marks.

On the economic front, the focus was on the US ADP Employment Change. The private-sector employment decreased by 20,236,000 from March to April, on a seasonally adjusted basis. The ADP Research Institute highlights the unprecedented times for the labour market and the historical trend:

“Job losses of this scale are unprecedented. The total number of job losses for the month of April alone was more than double the total jobs lost during the Great Recession”.

Commodities

In the oil market, crude oil future prices failed to extend gains despite an upbeat weekly inventory report. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an increase of 4.6m barrels in the week ended May 1st, which came below expectations of an increase of 7.759m.

The reports show that inventory levels are increasing at a decreasing rate which will eventually slow down the speed at which storage tanks are being filled. Amid a risk-off environment, WTI Crude oil (Nymex) lost 1.96% and is currently trading at $23.52 while Brent Crude (ICE) is trading at 29.725, down by 4.04%.

Gold

In a cautiously risky environment, the precious metal fell below the key $1,700 level to trade at $1,690 – dragged mostly by a stronger US dollar.

Key Economic Events

BoJ Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes (Japan) Imports, Exports and Trade Balance (Australia) Exports, Imports, and Trade Balance (China) RBNZ Inflation Expectations (New Zealand) Industrial Production (Germany) Financial Stability Report, BoE Quarterly Inflation Report, MPC Vote, Asset Purchase Facility, Monetary Policy Summary, Minutes and Interest Rate Decision (UK) Minutes and Interest Rate Decision (UK) Nonfarm Productivity, Initial Jobless Claims, and Unit Labor Costs (US) Ivey Purchasing Managers (Canada)

Upcoming Earnings Report

Company	Reporting Time	Teleconference/ Webcast Time
Moderna, Inc.(Nasdaq: MRNA)	Thursday, 7 May before markets open	Conference call 8:00 AM (ET)
Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU)	Thursday, 7 May after markets close	Conference call 5:00 PM (ET)
Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER)	Thursday, 7 May after markets close	Conference call 4:30 PM (ET)