Asia Markets Mixed, Europe Slides, While Crude Oil Nears $75 - Global Markets Today While Us Was Sleeping

On Wednesday, December 20th, the U.S. stock markets closed with significant losses, with the S&P 500 impacted heavily by FedEx's performance and the Dow Jones ending its nine-day streak of gains.

FedEx Corp FDX shares tanked Wednesday after the company reported softer-than-expected earnings for its fiscal second quarter and reduced its full-year revenue guidance.

In economic data, the U.S.'s current account deficit decreased to $200.3 billion in the third quarter, down from the revised $216.8 billion in the previous quarter and slightly above market expectations of $196 billion.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.27% at 37,082.00, the S&P 500 declined by 1.47% to 4,698.35, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 1.50%, ending the session at 14,777.94.

Asia Markets Today

• Japan's Nikkei 225 closed Thursday's trading session lower by 1.62% at 33,140.47, led by losses in the Power, Gas & Water, and Warehousing sectors.
• In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.45%, ending at 7,504.10, with Utilities and Industrials gaining, while IT Property and Consumer Discretionary sectors lagged.
• China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.57% to 2,918.71, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 was up 1.01%, closing at 3,330.87.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index inched 0.02% higher, concluding the day at 16,621.00.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was down 0.52%.
• Germany's DAX declined 0.57%.
•  France's CAC slid 0.48%.
• The U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.44%.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.20% at $74.07/bbl, and Brent was down by 0.21% at $79.54/bbl.
• Natural Gas gained 0.90% to $2.468.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.08% at $2,045.80, Silver fell 0.56% to $24.493, and Copper declined 0.44% to $3.8887.

US Futures at 06:00 AM ET            

Dow futures were up 0.39%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.44%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures gained by 0.59%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.11% to 102.29, USD/JPY was down 0.39 to 143.00, and AUD/USD slid 0.26% to 1.4821.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons