Asia Markets Mostly In Red, Europe Up, Gold Crosses $2K - Global Markets Today While US Was Sleeping

On Tuesday, November 28th, the U.S. stock markets closed higher, driven by mixed signals from Federal Reserve officials and buoyant consumer data.

Economic data revealed that the Conference Board's consumer confidence index climbed to 102 in November, up from 99.1 in October. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index also saw a year-over-year increase of 3.9% in September.

The Commerce Department is set to release its second estimate of Q3 GDP later this week, along with the comprehensive PCE report, which will detail income, spending, and inflation.

In the S&P 500, eight of the eleven major sectors finished higher, with consumer discretionary shares leading the gains, while the healthcare sector faced the largest percentage loss.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.24% to 35,416.98, the S&P 500 gained 0.10% to 4,554.89, and the Nasdaq Composite increased by 0.29%, ending the session at 14,281.76.

Asia Markets Today

• Japan's Nikkei 225 closed Wednesday's session down by 0.26% at 33,321.22, with losses predominantly in the Shipbuilding, Gas & Water, and Precision Instruments sectors.
• Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.29%, closing at 7,035.30, supported by advances in the Gold, IT, and Healthcare sectors.
• China's Shanghai Composite dropped 0.56% to close at 3,021.69, while the Shenzhen CSI 300 declined by 0.86%, finishing at 3,488.31.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 2.22% to close at 16,998.00.
• These Asian markets exhibited mixed performance, balancing the anticipation of China's economic data against the possibility of an earlier policy change by the Federal Reserve, as indicated by hints from Fed officials about pausing interest rate hikes.

Eurozone at 06:45 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was up 0.51%.
• Germany's DAX gained 0.88%.
• France's CAC increased by 0.40%.
• The UK's FTSE 100 traded 0.12% lower.

Commodities at 06:45 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading 1.30% higher at $77.39/bbl, while Brent was up 1.12% at $82.38/bbl.
• Natural Gas declined by 1.87% to $2.784.
• Gold was trading slightly higher, up 0.02% at $2,040.15, Silver gained 0.11% to $24.962, and Copper climbed 0.20% to $3.8472.

US Futures at 06:45 AM ET

• Dow futures were up by 0.32%.
• S&P 500 futures gained 0.41%.
• Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed by 0.54%.

Forex at 06:45 AM ET

• The U.S. Dollar Index was up by 0.15% at 102.89.
• USD/JPY gained 0.15% to 147.72.
• AUD/USD increased by 0.49% to 1.5111.