Stock indices are rising amid the signing of trade agreements with the US. Natural gas prices rose to a 3-week high

Wall Street opened May on a strong note. The Dow Jones (US30) was up 0.21% on Thursday. The S&P 500 Index (US500) added 0.63%. The Nasdaq Technology Index (US100) increased by 1.10%. Strong earnings results from technology giants and optimism about global trade talks drove the rise. Microsoft shares jumped by 10% after the company predicted stronger-than-expected growth in its Azure cloud business, while Meta shares rose more than 6% on better-than-expected revenue. Meanwhile, General Motors shares rose by 1.5% after the company released new 2025 earnings expectations.

On trade, President Trump highlighted potential agreements with India, Japan, and South Korea, and expressed confidence in reaching a deal with China. Meanwhile, economic data showed that initial jobless claims hit a nine-week high and jobless claims hit their highest since 2021, while US manufacturing contracted again in April amid tariff disruptions.

The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing PMI fell to 45.3 in April 2025 from 46.3 in the previous month, marking the third consecutive deterioration in factory activity and the lowest reading since May 2020, driven by a sharp decline in output and new orders. Companies noted that tariffs and the unpredictable nature of US trade policy have weighed heavily on demand, with output and new work declining at a pace not seen since the COVID-19 pandemic, and new export orders falling sharply over the past five years.

Equity markets in Europe were mostly closed yesterday. Germany’s DAX (DE40), France’s CAC 40 (FR40), and Spain’s IBEX35 (ES35) indices were not trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 (UK100) closed positive 0.02%.

Oil fell more than 2% amid demand concerns and expectations of increased supply from OPEC+, with Saudi Arabia signaling that it may accept lower prices and demand an increase in production at the May 5 meeting. Despite the bearish sentiment, geopolitical risks remain: US lawmakers insist on imposing tough sanctions against Russia, as well as continued repression of Iranian and Venezuelan oil. On the demand side, weak economic data, including a contraction in US GDP and China’s worst manufacturing slowdown since 2023, had a negative impact.

In the week ended April 25, the US utilities added 107 billion cubic feet of gas to storage to 2.041 trillion cubic feet, in line with market expectations of 110 billion cubic feet and the sharpest increase in inventories in two years. Natural gas prices rose to a 3-week high of $3.4/MMBtu.

Asian markets were mostly up on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 (JP225) gained 1.13% yesterday, China’s FTSE China A50 (CHA50) and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (HK50) were not trading yesterday, while Australia’s ASX 200 (AU200) was positive 0.24%.

Australian retail sales rose by 0.3% in March, slightly below expectations of 0.4%. Combined with a decline in core inflation, the latest data has reinforced market expectations of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia soon. The RBA is widely expected to cut its money rate by 25 basis points to 3.85% in May, with markets expecting a further cut to 2.85% by the end of the year.

Indonesian consumer prices rose to 1.95% y/y in April 2025, accelerating from March’s 1.03% increase. This was the highest annual rate since August 2024, driven by higher spending during Eid al-Fitr celebrations. Despite the increase, inflation remained within the Central Bank’s target range of 1.5% to 3.5%. Core inflation, which excludes food prices, rose to a 22-month high of 2.50%.