Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open
US stock futures are edging higher (S&P up 0.3 per cent, Nasdaq up 0.2 per cent, and Dow up 0.2 per cent), while in Europe equities were rising on the bourses that opened for business on May Day.
The UK market is closed along with China and Hong Kong.
Big export stocks are leading the pack in Europe but in Japan (the only major Asian market open) a spike in the value of the yen led to a sell off after it hit an 18-month high against the dollar.
Oil prices fell off their 2016 highs this morning though both Brent and US oil managed to stay above the psychological $45 mark.
In currency markets the dollar continued to slip, with the pound flat at $1.4617, while the euro was earlier up 0.3 per cent at $1.1480.
Gold prices have climbed to a 15-month high as concerns around the strength of the US dollar and general volatility in the currency markets pushed up the price of the safe haven asset.
In stocks:
Baker Hughes and Halliburton, the second and third largest companies in the US oil and gas industry, will be ones to watch after yesterday revealing they're scrapping their $34.6bn merger plans, blaming regulatory challenges and general oil industry conditions.The deal was first announced in November 2014.
Baker Hughes was earlier down almost three per cent in the premarket.
Halliburton now has to pay Baker Hughes a $3.5bn termination fee by Wednesday.
Ultra Petroleum is also casting a grim light over the energy sector. It's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is the latest energy company to run into problems in the face of lower-for-longer oil prices.
Ultra listed both assets and liabilities of $1bn to $10bn in its court filing.
Also of interest to investors will be Warren Buffett's disclosure on Saturday that preliminary first-quarter profit at Berkshire Hathaway fell around 12 per cent, due to its railroad and insurance operations performance.
Operating profit for the Oracle of Omaha's Nebraska-based insurance and investment conglomerate is thought to have fallen to $3.73bn from $4.24bn in the same period last year.
A swap of Procter & Gamble stock for the Duracell battery business is thought to have pushed net income to $5.59bn from $5.16bn.
A quieter day in corporate earnings today ahead of a busy week:
Sysco highlights the names reporting ahead of the opening bell. Insurance giant AIG, Tenet Healthcare, Anadarko Petroleum, and General Growth Properties, will post the results of their latest quarter after markets close.
A lighter day for economics news out of the US also:
The latest ISM Index and construction spending will be released at 3pm London time. A reading below 50 denotes a contraction, and March's 51.8 was the first since last September to be in the expansion zone.
Meanwhile, the US 10-year bond yield is down two basis points at 1.81 per cent.
The US territory of Puerto Rico will miss a major debt payment today to bondholders of the Government Development Bank, which acts as the island’s primary fiscal agent and lender of last resort. The default highlights the island's deepening financial crisis and places additional pressure on the US government to step in.