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Nasdaq 100 Futures Lead Nikkei 225, ASX 200 Lower, RBA Rate Decision in Focus

1 June 2021

Futures on the Dow Jones, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 stock indexes traded slightly lower during Tuesday’s early APAC hours after the Memorial Day holiday. The US and UK markets are resuming trading on Tuesday. Investors are facing a slew of key market events down the road, including the RBA interest rate decision and an OPEC+ meeting. German unemployment, Eurozone core inflation as well as US ISM manufacturing PMI data are also on tap. Later this week, the US nonfarm payrolls report headlines the economic docket. Find out more from DailyFX economic calendar.

The RBA is widely expected to keep its policy rate unchanged and maintain both benchmark lending rates and the 3-year bond yield target at 0.1% in a meeting today. The central bank’s policy stance may be tilted to the dovish side given a dismal April jobs report and viral resurgence in Victoria State. This may exert downward pressure on the Australian Dollar alongside falling iron ore prices.

WTI crude oil prices are hovering near a key resistance level at $ 66.50 as traders awaits output guidance from the OPEC+ in a meeting scheduled today. The oil cartel and its allies are widely expected to stick with a decision to gradually boost output during May to July. Now they might need to take a potential rise in Iranian production into consideration as Washington and Tehran are reported to be moving closer to reviving the nuclear disarmament deal jettisoned by the Trump administration.