Asia Markets Mixed, Europe Advances; Dollar Gains On Tariff Concerns - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Monday, January 27, U.S. markets closed mixed as the Nasdaq experienced its steepest decline since December. The drop was fueled by a sharp selloff in chipmakers following the launch of a low-cost AI model by Chinese startup DeepSeek, which challenged Nvidia and other industry leaders.

Nvidia’s plunge marked a historic single-day loss in market value, while semiconductor stocks saw significant declines.

Most sectors of the S&P 500 ended Monday with gains, led by healthcare, financials, and consumer staples, while information technology and utilities lagged and closed lower.

According to economic data, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose to 0.15 in December, its highest in seven months, while U.S. building permits increased by 0.7% to an annualized 1.482 million.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.65% and closed at 44,713.58, while the S&P 500 closed lower by 1.46% at 6,012.28, and the Nasdaq Composite plunged 3.07% to finish at 19,341.83.

Aisa Markets Today

• On Tuesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed lower by 1.43% at 39,064.50, led by losses in the Non-Metal Minerals, Communication, and Electrical/Machinery sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.12% at 8,399.10, led by losses in the A-REITs, Utilities, and Energy sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 closed higher by 0.65% at 22,978.60, and Nifty 500 rose 0.14%, closing at 20,940.05, led by gains in the Banking, Real Estate, and Auto sectors.
• China markets were closed for the Chinese New Year holiday.
• Hong Kong Hang Seng closed the session higher by 0.14% at 20,237.99.

Eurozone at 05:30 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 was up 0.46%.
• Germany’s DAX rose 0.66%.
• France’s CAC gained 0.39%.
• U.K.’s FTSE index 100 traded higher by 0.59%.

Commodities at 05:30 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.60% at $73.60/bbl, and Brent was up 0.64% at $76.67/bbl.
• Oil prices rose slightly on Tuesday but remained near two-week lows due to weak Chinese economic data, warmer weather reducing fuel demand, and concerns over U.S. sanctions affecting Chinese oil supply.
• Natural Gas declined 1.94% to $3.190.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.33% at $2,775.31, Silver was up 0.43% to $30.545, and Copper rose 0.87% to $4.2685.
• Gold prices held steady in Asian trading on Tuesday after a sharp drop the previous day. A stronger U.S. dollar, fueled by trade concerns and Fed anticipation, weighed on the market.

U.S. Futures at 05:30 AM ET

Dow futures were up 0.04%, S&P 500 futures surged 0.39% and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.69%.

Forex at 05:30 AM ET

• The U.S. dollar index gained 0.58% to 107.96, the USD/JPY rose 0.60% to 155.48, and the USD/AUD rose 0.72% to 1.6007.
• The dollar strengthened on Tuesday amid new U.S. tariff threats, reversing Monday’s risk-off moves triggered by the emergence of a low-cost Chinese AI model.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock