Asia Markets Rise, Europe Trades Mixed While Crude Oil Hovers Near $70 - Global Markets Today While Us Was Sleeping

On Friday, December 8th, U.S. stock markets ended on a high, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting their top closing levels since early 2022, fueled by an encouraging U.S. jobs report, sparking optimism among investors about the economic outlook.

In economic data, November 2023, U.S. non-farm payrolls grew by 199,000, exceeding October's 150,000 and surpassing expectations of 180,000. The unemployment rate fell to 3.7%, down from October's 3.9%. Key job gains were seen in health care, government, and manufacturing, while retail trade employment declined.

Most S&P 500 sectors ended positively on Friday, led by energy and tech stocks. In contrast, consumer staples and real estate closed lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.36% to 36,247.87, the S&P 500 gained 0.41% to 4,604.37, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.45%, ending the session at 14,403.97.

Asian Markets Today

• Japan's Nikkei 225 closed Monday's session higher by 1.56% at 32,791.80, led by gains in the Transport, Banking, and Paper & Pulp sectors.
• In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.06%, ending at 7,199.00, led by gains in the Energy, Consumer Discretionary, and Healthcare sectors.
• China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.74% to 2,991.44, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 gained 0.59%, closing at 3,419.45.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.84%, concluding the day at 16,187.00.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was down 0.19%.
• Germany's DAX declined 0.11%.
• France's CAC rose 0.06%.
• The U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.69%.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 1.11% at $70.47/bbl, and Brent was down by 0.98% at $75.10/bbl.
• Natural Gas fell 7.25% to $2.394.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.26% at $2,009.40, Silver declined 0.31% to $22.205, and Copper slid 0.94% to $3.7945.

US Futures at 06:00 AM ET            

Dow futures were down 0.04%, S&P 500 futures slid 0.10%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 0.19%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.02% to 104.00. USD/JPY gained 0.87% to 146.19, and AUD/USD rose 0.14% to 1.5244.