US futures are lower after one of the best months ever for US stock investors

E-minis 01-05
  • Apple reported flat revenue growth, did not offer guidance for Q2
  • Amazon earnings miss, warns to spend Q2 profits on virus response
  • Trump continues to warn China over virus 'mishandling'

US futures are down by ~1.3% with some factors weighing since late yesterday (⬆).

The risk mood is a bit more defensive with risk/commodity currencies also seeing more of a retreat to start the day. The aussie and kiwi are leading losses after some wild moves in overnight trading amid month-end fixing flows.

Despite the softer risk tone in equities over the past few sessions, US stocks still posted stunning gains in trading last month. The S&P 500 index gained by 12.7%, the Dow by 11.1%, and the Nasdaq by 15.5% for the month of April.

In terms of percentage gains, it was the largest gain for the S&P 500 since January 1987 and the third best month since World War II.

SPX

That said, the latest retreat back under the 61.8 retracement level may be an ominous sign - especially now that investors are getting a sense of the weight of negative economic data over the past few days. And Q2 numbers are going to be much worse surely.

It's going to be quiet in European trading later so let's see how Wall St takes this all in ahead of the weekend.