Asia Stumbles, Europe Mixed While Gold Trades Above $1900 - Global Markets Today While US Was Sleeping

On Friday, October 13, the U.S. stock markets closed mixed as declining consumer confidence and Middle East tensions overshadowed positive earnings from major U.S. banks.

Major Wall Street banks kicked off the third quarter earnings season.       

In the S&P500 11 key sectors, energy topped the gains with a 2.3% increase due to rising oil prices. Utilities rose by 1% and consumer staples gained 0.8%, also emerging as leading sectors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.12% to 33,670.29, the S&P 500 decreased by 0.50% to 4,327.78, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.23% to 13,407.23.

Asian Markets Today

• Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed lower by 2.03% at 31,634.50 on Monday. Investors were cautious ahead of the crucial inflation data for September, scheduled to be released later this week. A hint of persistent inflation could potentially motivate the Bank of Japan to consider tightening its policy.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell by 0.23% to end at 7,026.50. Nine of the 11 industry sectors saw losses, with the tech sector experiencing the biggest drop of 2.8%.
• China’s Shanghai Composite decreased by 0.46% to end the session at 3,073.81, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 fell 1%, closing at 3,626.60.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.88% and closed at 17,602.50.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was down 0.01%.
• Germany’s DAX declined 0.05%. 
• France’s CAC was up 0.04%.
• The U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.41%.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.08% at $86.42/bbl, and Brent was down 0.09% at $90.81/bbl.
• Natural Gas was down 2.87% to $3.146
• Gold was trading lower by 0.70% at $1,927.85, Silver slid 0.80% to $22.712, and Copper was up 0.48% to $3.5977.

US Futures at 06:00 AM ET

Dow futures were up 0.31%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.17%, while Nasdaq 100 futures slid slightly by 0.01%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.15% to 106.49. USD/JPY declined 0.01% to 149.56, and AUD/USD slipped by 0.30% to 1.5819.