Asia And Europe Markets Gain; Oil Rises Ahead of OPEC+ Meeting - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Monday, December 2nd, U.S. markets closed mixed, driven by tech stocks, while the Dow fell. Investors await key economic data, including Friday’s jobs report. The Fed may cut interest rates, but inflation concerns linger. Super Micro Computer surged 28.7% after announcing plans to find a new finance chief. Despite strong sectors, more stocks declined than advanced, with trading volume lower than average.

Economic data shows that U.S. construction spending rose 0.4% in October, reaching an annual rate of $2,174 billion. The ISM manufacturing PMI increased to 48.4 in November, surpassing the expected 47.5 and up from 46.5 in October.

Most S&P 500 sectors closed lower, with utilities, real estate, and financial stocks declining, while communication services and consumer discretionary stocks saw gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.29% and closed at 44,782.00, the S&P 500 gained 0.24% to 6,047.15, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.97% to finish at 19,403.95.

Asia Markets Today

• On Tuesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.84% and ended the session at 39,207.50,   led by gains in the Gas & Water, Banking and Retail sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.56% and ended the day at 8,495.20, led by gains in the Healthcare, Consumer Discretionary and Industrials sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 rose 0.72% to 24,451.65, and Nifty 500 gained 0.78%, closing at 23,013.80.
• China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.44% to close at 3,378.81, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 rose 0.11%, finishing the day at 3,951.89.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 1.00% and closed the session at 19,746.32.

Eurozone at 05:30 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was up 0.75%.
• Germany’s DAX rose 0.56%.
• France’s CAC gained 0.61%.
• FTSE 100 index traded higher by 0.68%.

Commodities at 05:30 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 1.03% at $68.78/bbl, and Brent was up 0.92% at $72.49/bbl.
• Oil prices rose nearly one percent as traders awaited OPEC+ decisions on output cuts. OPEC+ is likely to extend cuts amid weak global demand and geopolitical tensions.
• Natural Gas slipped 1.28% to $3.172.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.35% at $2,667.64, Silver was up 1.87% to $31.442, and Copper rose 1.36% to $4.1870.

U.S. Futures at 05:30 AM ET

Dow futures were down 0.01%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.05% and Nasdaq 100 futures slid 0.01%.

Forex at 05:30 AM ET

• The U.S. dollar index fell 0.19% to 106.24, the USD/JPY was up 0.15% to 149.81, and the USD/AUD declined 0.26% to 1.5401.
• The U.S. dollar steadied after gaining strength on Monday, driven by political tensions in France and strong U.S. economic data, but came under pressure following remarks from Federal Reserve official hinting at a potential rate cut in December.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock