Asia And Europe Markets Mixed, Gold Makes All-Time Highs - Global Markets Today While Us Was Sleeping

On Monday, March 4th, U.S. markets closed lower, with investors holding back in anticipation of upcoming economic reports and testimony from Fed Chair Jerome Powell before Congress.

The majority of sectors on the S&P 500 were up; utilities, real estate, and materials led gains, while communication and consumer stocks declined.

Chip stock rally, led by Nvidia NVDA, pushed the S&P 500 to new highs as investors bet on AI demand despite caution before economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.25% to close at 38,989.83. The S&P 500 fell 0.12%, ending the day at 5,130.95. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.41%, finishing the session at 16,207.51.

Asian Markets Today

• On Tuesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed the session higher by 0.45% at 40,087.07, led by gains in the Paper & Pulp, Shipbuilding, and Electrical/Machinery sectors.
• In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.15% and closed at 7,724.20, led by losses in the Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, and Utilities sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 closed lower by 0.22% at 22,356.30, and the Nifty 500 slid 0.24% to 20,382.00.
• China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.28% to 3,047.79, while the Shenzhen CSI 300 was up 0.70%, closing at 3,565.51.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 2.80%, concluding the day at 16,131.00.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was down 0.14%.
• Germany’s DAX declined 0.05%.
• France’s CAC gained 0.04%.
• U.K’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.01%.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.04% at $78.72/bbl, and Brent was up 0.13% at $82.92/bbl.
• Natural Gas gained 0.42% to $1.924.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.28% at $2,132.40, Silver gained 0.62% to $24.142, while Copper gained 0.28% to $3.8678.

US Futures at 06:00 AM ET       

Dow futures were down 0.12%, S&P 500 futures slid 0.30%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures declined 0.70%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.04% to 103.88, USD/JPY was down 0.08% to 150.38, and AUD/USD gained 0.23% to 1.5399.

Image by Steve Bidmead from Pixabay