Asia And Europe Markets Dip, Crude Slips To $85 - Global Markets Today While US Was Sleeping

On Wednesday, October 18, the U.S. stock markets ended lower due to rising Treasury yields and investor assessments of recent corporate earnings and forecasts. Investors await Powell’s Speech at Economic Club of New York, amidst recent strong U.S. data.

Yields rose as U.S. single-family homebuilding rebounded in September, indicating that the Fed may maintain higher rates for a longer period.

In economic data, Single-family housing starts increased 3.2% to an annual rate of 963,000 units, as reported by the Commerce Department.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 0.98% to 33,665.08, the S&P 500 dipped 1.34% to 4,314.60, while the Nasdaq Composite fell by 1.62% and closed at 13,314.30.

Asian Markets Today

• Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 1.86% lower at 31,430.62 on Thursday, with losses primarily in the Shipbuilding, Pharmaceutical Industry, and Glass sectors.
• Japan’s trade surplus for September came in at 62.4 billion yen, surpassing expectations.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined by 1.36%, closing the session at 6,981.60. Losses were led by the IT, Consumer Staples, and A-REITs sectors.
• Australia’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.6% last month, surpassing expectations of 3.7%. Australia’s employment grew by 6,700 in September, falling short of the expected 18,000 increase and the previous month’s rise of nearly 65,000.
• China’s Shanghai Composite fell by 1.74% to close the session at 3,005.39, while the Shenzhen CSI 300 dropped 2.13%, closing at 3,533.54.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down by 2.94%, ending the session at 17,254.00.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was down 0.66%.
• Germany’s DAX declined 0.18%.
• France’s CAC slid 0.50%.
• The U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.75%.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 1.65% at $85.83/bbl, and Brent was down 1.81% at $89.84/bbl.
• Natural Gas declined 0.52% to $3.041.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.30% at $1,962.25, Silver slipped 0.31% to $23.027, and Copper was up 0.50% to $3.6052.

US Futures at 06:00 AM ET

Dow futures were down 0.08%, S&P 500 futures declined 0.05%, while Nasdaq 100 futures rose by 0.10%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index inched higher by 0.01% to 106.58. USD/JPY declined 0.06% to 149.82, and AUD/USD gained 0.46% to 1.5858.