Australia

The Australian share market is expected to trade sideways at the open after US markets put in a muted performance.

The local bourse will resume trading on Tuesday following the four-day Easter long weekend and in the wake of a subdued session on Wall Street on Monday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 48.49 points, or about 0.18 per cent, to 26511.05, paving the way for a slightly weaker opening in Australia.

The ASX200 SPI futures index was trading at 6244 points early Tuesday after the main S&P/ASX200 index closed on Thursday at 6259.8 points.

No major economic data are due in Australian on Tuesday.

But market watchers will be eying key inflation numbers due on Wednesday with the release of Consumer Price Index report for the March quarter.

Asia

China stocks fell from a 13-month high on Monday, posting their worst session in nearly four weeks, as comments from top policymaking bodies raised investor fears that Beijing will slow the pace of policy easing after some signs of stabilisation in the world’s second-largest economy.

The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 2.3 per cent, to 4,025.61, while the Shanghai Composite Index skid 1.7 per cent to 3,215.04, both logging their biggest single-day drop since 25 March.

China will maintain policy support for the economy, which still faces “downward pressure” and difficulties after better-than-expected first-quarter growth, a top decision-making body of the Communist Party said on Friday.

Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.24 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei index closed up 0.08 per cent.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng did not trade. 

Europe

Major European markets did not trade for the Easter Monday holiday. The London Metal Exchange was also closed.

North America

US stocks ended a low-volume trading session little changed on Monday, with the biggest gains in the energy sector as investors otherwise stayed on the sidelines ahead of quarterly earnings.

Investors were waiting for some of the biggest S&P 500 companies, including Boeing Co, Amazon.com and Facebook to report first-quarter results later in the week. Additional reports could ease investor fears of an earnings recession.

Trading volume - which was the lowest so far in 2019 - was also muted by the fact that some investors were still on vacation after Friday’s US market holiday and because markets were closed in parts of Europe and Asia on Monday.

Orlando was impressed with the latest GDPNow forecast from the Atlanta Federal Reserve for a first-quarter expansion of 2.8 per cent compared with a 0.2 per cent forecast a month ago.

S&P 500 profits are expected to drop 1.7 per cent year-over-year, according to Refinitiv data, in what would be the first earnings contraction since 2016.

But more than three-quarters of 82 S&P 500 companies that have reported so far have surpassed beaten-down expectations.

With the S&P trading at less than 1 per cent below its record high reached in September, investors were also waiting for upcoming data such as first-quarter GDP before making bigger bets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 48.49 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 26,511.05, the S&P 500 gained 2.94 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 2,907.97 and the Nasdaq Composite added 17.21 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 8,015.27.

The S&P energy index jumped 2.1 per cent in its biggest one-day percentage gain since January, as oil prices surged on the US’ move to further clampdown on Iranian oil exports, tightening global supplies.

But seven of the 11 major S&P sectors ended the day lower, led by a 1 per cent drop in the real estate index.

Intuitive Surgical fell 7 per cent and was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 after the surgical robotics maker’s quarterly profit missed analysts’ estimates.

Kimberly-Clark Corp gained 5.4 per cent, touching a near two-year high, after the consumer products maker reported better-than-expected earnings.

The PHLX Housing index fell 0.97 per cent after data showed US home sales fell more than expected in March, pointing to continued weakness in the housing market.