Most Asia Markets Close Up, Europe And Gold Trade Higher While Crude Oil Dips To Near $70 - Global Markets Today While US Was Sleeping

On Tuesday, December 5th, the U.S. stock markets closed mixed, influenced by new employment data that fueled expectations of a near-term U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut.

Economic data showed a decrease in job openings to 8.733 million in October, below expectations of 9.3 million, while the ISM services PMI increased to 52.7 in November, surpassing estimates.

Among the 11 S&P 500 sector indices, eight experienced declines, with the energy sector closely followed by a decrease in the materials sector.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.22% to 36,124.56, the S&P 500 declined 0.06% to 4,567.18, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.31%, ending the session at 14,229.91.

Asia Markets Today

• Japan's Nikkei 225 closed Wednesday's trading up by 2.01% at 33,445.90, buoyed by strong performances in the Power, Retail, and Real Estate sectors.
• In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 increased by 1.65%, ending at 7,178.40, with significant gains in the A-REITs, Telecoms Services, and Consumer Staples sectors.
• The Asia-Pacific markets experienced a robust rally, spearheaded by Japan's sharp recovery from Tuesday's slump, while investors evaluated Australia's Q3 GDP data.
• China's market saw mixed results, with the Shanghai Composite dipping slightly by 0.11% to 2,968.93, whereas the Shenzhen CSI 300 inched up 0.16%, closing at 3,399.60.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index marked a gain of 1.03%, concluding the day at 16,474.00.

Eurozone at 06:15 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was up 0.33%.
• Germany's DAX gained 0.28%. 
• France's CAC increased 0.27%.
• The U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.48%.

Commodities at 06:15 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 1.00% at $71.57/bbl, and Brent was down by 0.93% at $76.48/bbl.
• Natural Gas declined 0.11% to $2.707.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.13% at $2,039.15, Silver declined 0.26% to $24.488, and Copper rose 0.75% to $3.8123.

US Futures at 06:15 AM ET            

Dow futures were up 0.14%, S&P 500 futures climbed 0.25%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 0.35%.

Forex at 06:15 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.03% to 104.02. USD/JPY was up 0.18% to 147.41, and AUD/USD fell 0.26% to 1.5223.