Asia Ex-Hong Kong Up, Europe Mixed; Dollar Hovers Near High - Global Markets Today While Us Slept

On Monday, January 6th, U.S. markets closed mixed; the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite climbed to over a week’s high, driven by semiconductor gains and optimism about a softer tariff approach under the Trump administration. The Dow edged lower while tech stocks rallied sharply. Investors monitored Federal Reserve cues and Trump’s potential economic impact.

According to economic data, in November, U.S. durable goods and factory orders fell by 0.4%, slightly below estimates and prior gains. December’s S&P Global Services PMI dropped to 56.8, below forecasts, while the Composite PMI softened to 55.4, though both remained above their previous readings.

While seven out of the eleven S&P 500 sectors declined, communication services and technology stocks rose significantly.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.06% and closed at 42,706.56, the S&P 500 closed higher by 0.55% at 5,975.40, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.24% to finish at 19,864.98.

Asia Markets Today

• On Tuesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed higher by 2.14% at 40,077.00, led by gains in the Mining, Power, and Chemical, Petroleum, and plastic sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.34%, ending the session at 8,285.10, led by gains in the IT, Telecoms Services, and Consumer Discretionary sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 closed higher by 0.32% at 23,691.40, and the Nifty 500 rose 0.46%, closing at 22,327.80. Gains in the Oil and gas, Capital Goods, and Metals sectors led the index.
• China’s Shanghai Composite was up 0.71% and closed at 3,229.64, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 gained 0.72%, finishing the day at 3,796.11.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed the session lower by 1.22% at 19,447.58.

Eurozone at 05:30 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 was up 0.47%.
• Germany’s DAX gained 0.32%.
• France’s CAC rose 0.54%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.22%.

Commodities at 05:30 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.38% at $73.84/bbl, and Brent was up 0.59% at $76.75/bbl.
• Oil prices dipped as optimism over demand waned amid weak global economic data, though tighter Russian and Iranian supply and increased heating oil demand due to cold weather limited further losses.
• Natural Gas declined 4.30% to $3.514.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.30% at $2,655.51, Silver was up 0.74% to $30.810, and Copper rose 0.84% to $4.1960.

U.S. Futures at 05:30 AM ET

Dow futures were up 0.08%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.10%, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.09%.

Forex at 05:30 AM ET

• The U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.24% to 109.98, USD/JPY rose 0.10% to 157.75, and USD/AUD slid 0.59% to 1.5914.
• The U.S. dollar eased toward a one-week low as traders speculated on a softer tariff stance from President-elect Trump, despite his denial of recent report.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock