Asia Markets Mixed, Europe Up While Crude Oil Hovers Around $70 - Global Markets Today While Us Was Sleeping

On Thursday, Dec. 7, the U.S. stock markets closed in green, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 ending their three-day losing streaks and the Nasdaq ending sharply higher.

In economic data, U.S. initial jobless claims increased slightly to 220,000 in the week ending Dec. 2, just below market expectations of 222,000. The upcoming U.S. jobs report, due on Friday, is anticipated to show the addition of 180,000 jobs in November.

The S&P 500 saw most sectors end positively, led by communication services and information technology stocks. In contrast, utilities and energy sectors diverged from the trend, closing lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.17% to 36,117.38, the S&P 500 gained 0.80% to 4,585.59, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.37%, ending the session at 14,339.99.

Asian Markets Today

• Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed Friday’s session lower by 1.68% at 32,307.86, led by losses in the Shipbuilding, Mining, and Electrical/Machinery sectors.
• Japan’s Q3 GDP was revised to a steeper annualized decline of -2.9%, compared to the preliminary -2.1%. In October, real wages fell by 2.3%, and household spending decreased by 2.5%, complicating the central bank’s monetary policy efforts.
• In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.30%, ending at 7,194.90, led by gains in the Energy, Resources, and Metals & Mining sectors.
• China’s Shanghai Composite was up 0.11% to 2,969.56, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 gained 0.24%, closing at 3,399.46.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.11%, concluding the day at 16,324.50.

Eurozone at 06:15 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was up 0.45%.
• Germany’s DAX gained 0.23%.
• France’s CAC rose 0.81%.
• The U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.31%.

Commodities at 06:15 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 1.93% at $70.68/bbl, and Brent was up by 1.93% at $75.49 /bbl.
• Natural Gas gained 0.74% to $2.6.03.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.01% at $2046.50, Silver gained 0.52% to $24.183, and Copper rose 0.88% to $3.8308.

US Futures at 06:15 AM ET            

Dow futures were up 0.07%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.05%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures declined 0.07%.

Forex at 06:15 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index was up 0.18% to 103.73. USD/JPY was gained 0.36% to 144.62, and AUD/USD fell 0.12% to 1.5129.