Oil Prices, Stocks and U.S. Labor Market

Numerous factors may affect the stock markets. On Thursday, the price of U.S. crude futures increased by more than 24%. The price surge came after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he spoke to Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Trump expects that Saudi Arabia and the Russian Federation will announce an oil production cut of 10 million to 15 million barrels.

A record surge in oil prices on Thursday also affected the stocks. Asian stocks were little changed on April 3.

Mainland Chinese stocks fell on Friday. For example, the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.6% to about 2,763.99. At the same time, Shenzhen composite fell 0.47% to around 1,689.57.

Asian stocks and oil companies

Let’s have a look at stocks across the Asia Pacific. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 closed largely flat at 17,820.19. Meanwhile, the Topix index ended its trading day 0.36% lower at 1,325.13.

South Korea’s Kospi index closed just above the flatline at 1,725.44.

However, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.68% lower at 5,067.50.

Interestingly, in the afternoon of Asian trading hours on April 3, oil prices were mixed, as the Brent crude futures recovered from earlier slip to rise 1.57% to $30.38 per barrel. However, U.S. crude futures fell 2.17% $24.77 per barrel.

Moreover, the shares of oil companies were also mixed on Friday. Australia’s Santos gained 0.5% and Japan’s Inpex rose 2.63%. However, shares of PetroChina listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange dropped 5.56%.

It is hard not to mention coronavirus and its economic impact as countries are still struggling to stabilize the situation. Millions of people across the world lost their jobs. For example, over the past two weeks, ten million Americans applied for unemployment benefits.

This is just one example but it is enough to understand the severity of the problem. The second quarter of 2020 is full of challenges and it is important to reassure the investors that it still makes sense to invest in various stocks.