Tuesday Morning Briefing: Asian Shares Advance; Oil Below $49

Asian shares rose following gains on Wall Street overnight as the yen weakened for a fourth day.

Markets in China, Hong Kong, and Singapore reopened after a holiday. Oil fell below $49 a barrel to trade near its one-month low.

SGX Nifty futures indicate a flat start for Indian equities after the NSE Nifty 50 Index declined for two straight sessions.

FOMC Meeting Eyed

Technology earnings optimism pushed the Nasdaq Composite Index to an all-time high, while the S&P 500 Index closed just shy of the 2,400 mark.

Investors will be watching for comments from the Federal Open Market Committee's policy meeting on Wednesday and the release of the April U.S. unemployment report on Friday.

While traders see little chance of a Fed interest rate hike this week, an increase is seen as much more likely in June, according to futures rates tracked by Bloomberg.

Also Read: Trump Weighs Breaking Up Wall Street Banks, Raising Gas Tax

Trump's Agenda

U.S. President Donald Trump told Bloomberg News he's considering breaking up big Wall Street banks, in a bid to keep commercial and investment banking operations separate.

Trump also said he would meet with Kim Jong Un amid heightened tensions over North Korea's nuclear weapons programme if the circumstances were right, in an Oval Office interview with Bloomberg News.

Also Read: Trump Weighs Breaking Up Wall Street Banks, Raising Gas Tax

Oil Near One-Month Low

Oil fell for a second day to trade near its lowest close in a month amid forecasts U.S. gasoline inventories gained for the third week.

U.S. gasoline and distillate stockpiles probably climbed last week, according to a Bloomberg survey before a report from the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.

As U.S. production expands, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers will extend cuts to counter a global glut, said Fereidun Fesharaki, the head of industry consultant FGE at the Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference in Dubai.

Also Read: OPEC May Need to Extend Production Cuts to End of Next Year

Flat Start?

SGX Nifty futures traded little changed at 9,362 as of 7:10 a.m., indicating a flat start for the Indian markets.

Shares declined for a second straight session on Friday, but S&P BSE Sensex Index and NSE Nifty 50 Index closed the week with gains of around 2 percent each.

Shares of Ambuja Cements Ltd. will be in focus today after the cement maker's net profit rose more than three-fold in the quarter ended March. Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd. reported a loss of Rs 234.9 crore as provisions for bad loans rose.

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