Dow futures recover nearly 300 points from lows, nearly turn positive after steep early fall

Futures on Wall Street have recovered a majority of their losses, after having opened lower as trading resumed after the weekend break on Sunday evening local time on March 29. This, as the war in West Asia has entered its fifth week with no signs of de-escalation despite mediation efforts from regional countries.

Futures linked to the Dow Jones are now down only 50 points, while those of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are down 5 points and 35 points respectively. At the opening lows, the Dow futures were down nearly 350 points, while the Nasdaq futures were down 200 points.

Sharp Sell-Off On Friday

The Dow Jones fell nearly 800 points on Friday to enter correction territory, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended with losses of 1.7% and 2.2% respectively. The Nasdaq is already in correction territory, which means a 10% drop from record high levels.

Short But Important Week Ahead

The upcoming week will be a short one due to the Good Friday holiday on April 3, but will still be important due to the slew of macro data that is slated to be reported. In addition to this, the markets will also be tracking a speech from Fed Chair Jerome Powell late Monday evening.

Despite the Friday holiday, the Bureau of Labour Statistics will go ahead and release the non-farm payrolls report for the month of March as per schedule. There will also be data for US job openings and consumer confidence on Tuesday, retail sales, ADP jobs report, manufacturing PMI on Wednesday, and initial jobless claims and trade deficit on Thursday.

Beyond Equities

The US Dollar index is back above the mark of 100, while Brent crude gained as much as 3% in early trading to rise back to $116.5 a barrel for the May contracts. WTI or US crude for May is back above $100, while the June futures are trading above $96 a barrel.