Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Thursday, April 13:
1. Trump remarks trounce dollar
The dollar steadied on Thursday after weakening broadly in the previous session when U.S. President Donald Trump said the currency “is getting too strong” and he would prefer the Federal Reserve keep interest rates low.
USD/JPY was at 108.97 after falling to a five-month trough of 108.71 overnight. Sterling rose, with GBP/USD up 0.18% at 1.2561, the most since March 28.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was at 100.13 after touching a two-week low of 99.94 overnight.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield slid to a five-month low of 2.22%.
2. Global stocks broadly lower
The weaker dollar contributed to a fall in global equities on Thursday. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended down 0.68% pressured lower by the stronger yen.
In Europe, the benchmark Euro Stoxx 50 was down 0.48%, Germany's DAX fell 0.29%, France’s CAC 40 shed 0.45% and London’s FTSE 100 lost 0.45%.
U.S. stock futures pointed to lower open on Wall Street, with the blue-chip Dow futures down 0.19%, S&P 500 futures losing 0.26% and the Nasdaq 100 futures off by 0.18%.
3. U.S. Q1 earnings in focus
Wall Street's first-quarter earnings season gets underway in earnest, with major U.S. banks JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Citigroup (NYSE:C) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) all reporting later Thursday.
The financial sector is projected to post a 15.4% profit gain, second only to energy among S&P sectors, with revenue rising 7.5%.
For the broader market, earnings are forecast to grow 10.1% from a year ago, the best since 2014, while sales growth is expected to jump by 7.5%, the best since 2011, according to Thomson Reuter’s data
A strong earnings season would help justify pricey stock valuations, with the S&P 500 rallying this month to its most expensive since 2004 on a forward price-to-earnings basis.
4. U.S. data on tap
The Labor Department will publish initial jobless claims figures at 8:30AM ET (12:30GMT) and the consensus forecast is that the report will show jobless claims rose to 245,000 last week from 234,000 in the prior week.
At the same time, the Commerce Department will publish data on March producer prices, which is expected to show that the PPI was flat last month but rose by 2.4% from a year earlier.
The University of Michigan is to release the preliminary reading of its consumer sentiment index for April at 10.00 ET. Market analysts are expecting the index to have ticked down to 96.5 from 96.9 in March.
5. China trade data shows brighter export outlook
Official data on Thursday showed that China's exports rose at the quickest rate in slightly more than two years in March, increasing 16.4% from a year earlier, pointing to improving global demand.
Imports remained strong at 20.3%, reinforcing a picture of robust domestic demand.
China posted a trade surplus of $23.93 billion last month, the customs office reported after logging its first deficit in three years in February.