Hi kissmyshares, yes your right futures markets point to what...

Hi kissmyshares, yes your right futures markets point to what could happen at the open. As we are one of the first market open technically we can be influenced by anything that happens from our close Friday to our open Monday. One of those factors is the US market and how it played out on Friday. However things transpire on the weekend which might alter the direction of markets eg geopolitics, potentially data that’s released or sentiment that shifts as data is digested over a longer period of time. Example a piece of data released after Friday close during US might at first not look great and directionally throughout the day the market heads that way. After close all market participants might have further digested and had more to think about it and connect a few more dots and then their might be a different view or thesis. So in summary the markets whilst open for standard hours for trading are technically open 24/7 as sentiment is constantly shifting.

In terms of US economy, given it is the largest in the world when the US sneezes everyone else can get sick. Due to the sheer size of the US economy and the size of the market, it often acts as a lead indicator for the rest of the markets. Capital also flows very rapidly through borders so what happens globally can shift flows. In particular this is more at the insto macro level as shifts of capital make a big difference. All markets are very interconnected that are operating despite independence of stock exchanges