Asia Markets Mostly Lower, Europe On The Rise, Gold Steady Above $2K Levels - Global Markets Today While US Was Sleeping

On Thursday, Nov. 30, U.S. stock markets closed mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining more than 500 points.

In economic data, The U.S. October personal consumption expenditure price index remained stable, following September’s 0.4% increase. Annual core PCE inflation decreased to 3.5% from 3.7%.

U.S. jobless claims increased to 218,000 for the week ending Nov. 25, up from 211,000 the prior week and below the 220,000 forecast. Chicago PMI jumped to 55.8 in November from 44 in October.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.47% to 35,950.89, the S&P 500 gained 0.38% to 4,567.80, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.23%, ending the session at 14,226.22.

Asian Markets Today

• Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended Friday’s session lower by 0.11% at 33,431.51, led by losses in the Banking, Insurance and Steel sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.20%, closing the session at 7,073.20, led by losses in the IT, Consumer Staples, and Consumer Discretionary sectors.
• China’s Shanghai Composite was up 0.06% to close the session at 3,031.64, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 declined 0.38%, closing at 3,482.88.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.07% and closed at 16,847.00.
• Chinese manufacturing activity unexpectedly expanded in November, with the Caixin manufacturing PMI rising to 50.7, surpassing expectations of 49.3 and up from 49.6 in the previous month, driven by a slight increase in domestic demand.

Eurozone at 06:15 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was up 0.45%.
• Germany’s DAX gained 0.72%.
• France’s CAC increased 0.41%.
• European stocks climbed on Friday, led by gains in the mining sector, as investors awaited Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s policy comments following lower-than-expected inflation data.
• The U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.65%.

Commodities at 06:15 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.25% at $76.14/bbl, and Brent was up by 0.20% at $81.01/bbl.
• Natural Gas declined 0.89% to $2.777.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.47% at $2047.70, Silver declined 0.31% to $25.215, and Copper rose 0.89% to $3.8848.

US Futures at 06:15 AM ET            

Dow futures were up 0.08%, S&P 500 futures down 0.01%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures slid 0.13%.

Forex at 06:15 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.05% to 103.45. USD/JPY declined 0.13% to 148.00, and AUD/USD slid 0.24% to 1.5104.