Asian Session Market Wrap
Asian stocks dropped on Thursday after rising for four straight days, as the boost from US-China trade talks started to fade.
Stocks in Japan, China, and US futures all fell, showing a more cautious mood after a week of strong gains driven by trade progress and steady economic performance. Investors are concerned that stocks have risen so much they could be easily affected by unexpected events. European stock futures also dipped slightly.
The European Open
Heading into the European open, European shares were being weighed down by energy stocks, which saw big losses due to falling oil prices, while investors looked ahead to important U.S. economic data and comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
fell over 3% due to the possibility of a U.S.-Iran nuclear deal, which could lift sanctions and increase supply. Big oil companies like BP (NYSE:) and Shell (NYSE:) saw their shares drop by 5% and 3%, pulling down the main stock index.
prices faltered once more with the precious metal printing an Asian session low of around the $3125/oz handle before recovering to trade around $3158/oz at the time of writing.
For a technical outlook on Gold read
Looking at US equities, the mood remained positive in the Asian session as markets still digest a US-China trade truce, a UK agreement, and major Gulf deals which have boosted investor confidence.
The went up by 0.1% overnight, and the rose 0.5%, driven by Nvidia’s (NASDAQ:) gains, which erased its 2025 losses.
Following the European open however, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have turned red for the day, trading 0.57% and 0.85% lower respectively.
On the FX front, safe-haven currencies like the and strengthened, with the yen rising 0.6% to 145.88/USD after hitting a one-month low of 148.65 earlier this week. The Swiss franc also gained 0.6%, reaching 0.8376/USD.
The increased by 0.2% to 1.12. A Bloomberg report on Wednesday mentioned that the US is not pushing for a weaker in tariff talks, which helped ease market worries.
The , which tracks the dollar against six other currencies, fell 0.2% to 100.81 but is still set to gain 0.4% for the week. However, the index is down nearly 7% for 2025.
Currency Power Balance
Economic Data Releases and Overall Sentiment
Looking at market sentiment, it remains largely positive. The main focus will be U.S. data, and investors will also watch for updates on potential trade deals following the U.S.-China tariff truce.
There will also be a speech by Fed Chair and earnings from Walmart (NYSE:) which could rattle markets ahead of the US Open.
Chart of the Day – DAX
From a technical standpoint, the has been consolidating above a key support area, having printed fresh all-time highs on Monday.
The support area between 23212 and 23471 continues to hold firm, underpinning the index and providing bulls with optimism that another bullish leg may be inthe offing.
A move higher still needs a clear break and acceptance above the 24000 handle, which could lead to a bigger move to the upside.
On the downside, a break of support at 23212 could open up a retest of the 20 and 50-day MAs, which rest at 22704 and 2246,0 respectively.
DAX Daily Chart, May 15, 2025
Source: TradingView.com
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