Asia And European Markets Fall, Crude Oil Drops Almost 3% - Global Markets Today While US Was Sleeping

On Friday, January 5th, the U.S. stock markets experienced a modest uptick at the close, yet this slight gain was insufficient to offset the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite's weakest weekly opening in several months for the start of 2024.

In economic data, December saw the U.S. economy add 216,000 jobs, outpacing November's 173,000 and forecasts of 170,000. The unemployment rate stayed at 3.7%, against expectations of 3.8%, while average hourly earnings increased by 0.4% to $34.27.

This week marks the start of the earnings season, with leading banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup set to report.

Most S&P 500 sectors ended positively, led by financials and utilities, while consumer staples and real estate diverged, closing lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.07%, closing at 37,466.11. The S&P 500 was up 0.18% to 4,697.24, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.09%, ending the trading session at 14,524.07.

Asian Markets Today

• Japan's Nikkei 225 was closed for Respect for the Aged Day. 
• Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed Monday's trading session lower by 0.50%, at 7,451.50, led by losses in the Metals & Mining, IT and Healthcare sectors.
• China's Shanghai Composite declined 1.42% to 2,887.54, while the Shenzhen CSI 300 slipped 1.29%, closing at 3,286.06.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 1.93%, concluding the day at 16,179.00.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was down 0.33%.
• Germany's DAX declined 0.02%.
• France's CAC slipped 0.22%.
• The UK's FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.43%.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 2.99% at $71.63/bbl, and Brent was down 2.73% at $76.62/bbl.
• Natural Gas declined 1.91% to $2.838.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.86% at $2,032.40, Silver fell 0.81% to $23.120, and Copper slipped 0.27% to $3.7950.

US Futures at 06:00 AM ET            

Dow futures were down 0.50%, S&P 500 futures slid 0.20%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures declined 0.19%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.04% to 102.45, USD/JPY was down 0.19% to 144.38, and AUD/USD rose 0.40% to 1.4943.

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