Asia Closes In Green, Europe Follows - Global Markets While US Was Sleeping

On Wednesday, August 23, the U.S. markets closed higher, driven by gains in the technology, financial, and industrial sectors. 

The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite index recorded positive growth for three consecutive trading sessions. Most of the segments within the S&P 500 ended the day with gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher by 0.54% at 34,472.98 on Wednesday; the S&P 500 was up 1.10% and closed at 4,436.01; and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.59%, ending the session at 13,721.03.

Asian Markets Today 

• Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed Thursday’s session higher by 0.72% at 32,275.00, led by gains in the Paper & Pulp, Steel and Non-Metal Minerals sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.47%, ending the session at 7,182.10, led by gains in the IT, Gold, and Financial sectors.
• China’s Shanghai Composite closed the session at 3,082.24, up 0.12%, and Shenzhen CSI 300 rose 0.72% to close at 3,723.43; stocks in the liquor-making industry experienced notable gains, driving the overall positive market performance, while shares associated with the cement industry faced significant losses.
• Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 2.09%, closing at 18,208.00.

Eurozone at 05:45 AM ET

• The Pan-European STOXX 600 index is up 0.16%. The DAX index in Germany traded 0.14% higher.
• The CAC 40 in France rose 0.23%.
• European stock markets exhibited an upward trend, driven by a surge in risk sentiment, influenced by impressive earnings reported by chip maker  NVDA and growing anticipation that weak economic data could lead central banks to halt rate hikes.
• The U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.24%.

Commodities at 05:45 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.29% at $79.09/bbl, and Brent was up 0.31% to $83.47/bbl.
• Natural Gas slid 1.12% to $2.469.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.02% at $1,945.67, Silver was down 0.80% to $24.198, and Copper slid 0.91% to $3.7737.

US Futures at 05:45 AM ET

Dow futures were down 0.20%, S&P 500 futures were up 0.41%, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.03%.

Forex at 05:45 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index was up 0.20% to 103.62. USD/JPY rose 0.42% to 145.44, while USD/AUD was up 0.54% at 1.5516.