Bloomberg Commodity

The day after Trump pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord, stocks are set for new all time highs with S&P futures up 0.2%, boosted by green markets across Europe and Asia, where the Nikkei rose above 20,000 for the first time since 2015. World stocks are set for new record highs, having already gained 11% so far this year, ahead of today's US nonfarm payrolls which are expected to increase by 185,000 jobs after surging 211,000 in April.

With all eyes on crude, following last night's mini flash crash which sent WTI lower by 3% from just above $45 to under $43 in under 10 minutes, equity markets, generally quiet overnight, have taken on a secondary importance ahead of today's key risk event, the April payrolls report (full preview here). In global equities, Asian and European stocks are lower, while S&P futures are little changed.

It was a very ugly night for the Andy Halls, Pierre Andurands and other crude longs, after oil flash crashed just before midnight ET, dragging WTI from above $45/bbl to below $44 in seconds on a surge in volume, to the lowest price since OPEC agreed to cut output in November.

As shown in the chart below, in less than 10 minutes futures slumped more than $1 as volume surged 14 times.

Before scrolling down, take a guess at the three best and worst performing commodities of 2016 and 2017!

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2016 was a good year for commodities. The Bloomberg Commodity Index, which is a diversified benchmark for commodity investments, gained 10%.

S&P equity futures followed Asian and European stocks lower, driven by weakness in Franch and Italian markets, as French political concerns returned; the pound tumbled after UK monthly retail sales unexpectedly dropped pushing the dollar higher and Euro lower.