Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Tuesday, May 30:
1. European stocks lower, on track for fourth day of losses
European stock markets fell on Tuesday, putting them on track for their fourth day of losses.
Worries over Greece’s bailout, the prospect of early Italian general election and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s comments about the need for continued stimulus all sapped risk appetite.
Overnight in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei ended lower as the strong yen weighed, while markets in China, Hong Kong were closed for holidays
U.S. stock futures pointed to flat to lower open as Wall Street reopened following a long weekend. The blue-chip Dow futures were down 0.05%, S&P 500 futures traded down 0.09% and the Nasdaq 100 futures gave up 0.02%.
2. Dollar, yen gain ground in cautious trade
The dollar and the yen gained ground against the other major currencies as European geopolitical fears contributed to a cautious tone in markets.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was last up 0.11% to 97.44.
EUR/JPY was down 0.31% at 123.84 after falling as low as 123.16 earlier, while EUR/USD dipped 0.12% to 1.1152.
The dollar was lower against the yen, with USD/JPY sliding 0.21% to 111.02.
3. Oversupply concerns hit oil prices
Oil prices fell as concerns about oversupply continued to weigh, despite the American summer driving season getting underway.
Oil remained under pressure amid doubts over whether a decision by OPEC to extend a pledge to cut output until the end of the first quarter of 2018 will be enough to reduce a massive global supply glut.
U.S. crude was at $49.57 a barrel, down 25 cents, or around 0.5%, while Brent lost 45 cents to $52.18.
4. French GDP revised up to 0.4%
Data on Tuesday indicated that France’s economy grew at a faster rate in the first quarter than first estimated.
Statistics body INSEE reported that French GDP expanded by 0.4% in the three months to March, up from the preliminary estimate of 0.3%.
That means the French economy grew twice as fast as the UK economy at the start of the year, giving a boost to new president Emmanuel Macron.
5. U.S. data on tap
The Commerce Department is due to release data on personal income and expenditure at 08.30 ET, which is expected to show a pickup in spending and income.
The Conference Board is to report on consumer confidence for May at 10.00 ET.
The April report showed that U.S. consumer confidence declined after increasing sharply in the previous two months, but remained at strong levels.