Markets continue full speed this Thursday.
Here are 4 tips for today's trading. This will help you decide where you should invest and what to look for:
The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, as was widely expected, and gave a positive assessment of the U.S. economy, suggesting it was still on track for two more rate hikes this year.
The Fed said it expects the economy to rebound after hitting a soft patch in the first three months of the year, noting that the labor market looks solid and inflation is running close to its target.
The hawkish Fed statement indicated that policymakers think the recent weakness in the economy was temporary and that more rate hikes are coming this year.
Futures traders are now pricing in around a 71% chance of a hike at the Fed's June meeting.
On the data front jobless claims, international trade and productivity and unit labor costs are all set to come out at 12:30 GMT. Factory orders are due at 14:00 GMT.
The all-important NFP jobs report will be released tomorrow at 12:30 GMT.
Political concerns may re-emerge, with a U.S. House of Representatives vote on a revised bill to repeal Obamacare due later in the session.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Republican leadership is confident there is enough backing for the bill to pass, after key moderate leaders met with President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
The vote will take place just over a month after House Republicans were forced to pull the American Health Care Act from the floor just minutes before a vote after they were unable to wrangle enough of their members to vote for the bill. Even if the bill passes the House, it could face an uphill battle in the Senate.
Centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron maintained his lead on far-right opponent Marine Le Pen ahead of this Sunday's French election following a televised political debate.
A snap Elabe poll suggested that Macron had emerged the victor with 63 points to Le Pen's 34 after the pair clashed over their visions of France's future, the euro and terrorism in a TV debate Wednesday night.
The Euro ticked up 0.4% to 1.0930 against the dollar, aided by a series of upbeat economic data.
European stocks posted firm early gains, with France's CAC 40 hitting its highest level since the global financial crisis, while Germany's DAX touched a fresh all-time peak.
Metal prices extended their biggest daily decline this year on Thursday, amid a firmer dollar and concerns about Chinese demand for commodities like steel and iron.
Gold fell $12, or 1%, to $1,234 an ounce. The yellow metal was on pace to have its lowest settlement since March 21, after falling 0.7% on Wednesday.
China’s iron-ore futures fell 8% on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange on Thursday, taking the price to its lowest level since October. Copper futures in London were last down 0.5%, building on Wednesday’s 3.5% slump.
Nickel futures fell 1.9% following a 3.3% drop the previous day. Lead was down 0.9%, aluminum was 0.4% lower and zinc dropped 0.6%.
A Caixin reading on China’s service-sector activity hit its lowest level in nearly a year for April on Thursday, adding to concerns about the country’s economic health
Oil prices struggled near a 5-week low on Thursday, as concern over a global supply glut lingered after data showed U.S. crude stockpiles fell less than expected last week.