Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Tuesday, April 18:
1. British PM May announces snap general election
British Prime Minister Theresa May announced plans to seek a snap general election on June 8 in a surprise statement made outside her Downing Street office at 10:15 GMT (6:15AM ET) on Tuesday.
The announcement came after a new opinion poll pointing to a 21-point lead for the Conservatives over Labor.
The pound fluctuated against the dollar, with GBP/USD at 1.2580. It fell to as low as 1.2516 after popping to an eight-week high of 1.2607 earlier.
2. French political jitters in focus
With only five days to go until the first round of the French presidential vote on April 23, investors remain focused on the latest polls showing which way the election is moving.
According to the latest poll, released earlier Tuesday, support for centrist Emmanuel Macron stands at 23%, while the far-right National Front’s Marine Le Pen is at 22%. Far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon is at 19.5%, followed by the Republican candidate Francois Fillon at 19%.
3. Goldman, Bank of America earnings on deck
Market participants continue to keep an eye on the quarterly reporting season with the focus Tuesday on earnings from Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) out before the market open.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH) are also scheduled to report before the opening bell. IBM (NYSE:IBM), Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) and Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) are all due to report after the market close
Investors have high hopes for first-quarter earnings, with Wall Street expecting the best season since 2011.
4. Global markets spooked
U.S. stock market futures pointed to a lower open on Tuesday morning, as investors stayed cautious amid continued geopolitical tension concerning North Korea.
The blue-chip Dow futures lost 70 points, or around 0.3%, by 5:50AM ET (09:50GMT), the S&P 500 futures shed 10 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures slumped 17 points.
In Europe, stocks were broadly lower, with Germany's DAX down around 0.7%, while London's FTSE 100 slumped 1%.
Earlier, in Asia, markets ended mixed, with the Shanghai Composite in China closing down about 0.8%, while Japan's Nikkei inched up around 0.4%.
5. Dollar holds near 5-month low
The dollar index, measuring it against a basket of major currencies, was flat at 100.20 in New York morning trade after rising to 100.31 earlier. It touched a five-month low of 99.91 on Monday.
Meanwhile, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was at around at 2.22%, one day after breaking below 2.20% for the first time since November 17.
U.S. housing starts and building permits for March, as well as industrial production, are due later in the session.