Asia Market Mixed, Europe Up, While Crude Oil Moves Above $80 - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Wednesday, March 13, U.S. markets closed mixed, as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq declined, with investors selling off-chip stocks in anticipation of producer price data and inflation insights before next week’s Fed meeting.

In economic data, U.S. mortgage applications saw a 7.1% uptick in the week concluding on March 8, in contrast to the 9.7% surge observed in the week prior.

The S&P 500 mostly ended higher, led by the energy, materials, and utilities sectors, while information technology and real estate sectors underperformed, closing lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.10% to close at 39,043.32. The S&P 500 declined 0.19%, ending the day at 5,165.31, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.54%, finishing the session at 16,177.77.

Asian Markets Today

• On Thursday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed the session higher by 0.46% at 38,867.00, led by gains in the Insurance, Real Estate and Fishery sectors.
• In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.20% and closed at 7,713.60, led by losses in the Financials, Consumer Discretionary, and Telecoms Services sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 closed higher by 0.68% at 22,146.65, and the Nifty 500 climbed 1.36% to 19,916.35.
• China’s Shanghai Composite decreased 0.18% to 3,038.23, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 fell 0.28%, closing at 3,562.22.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.71%, concluding the day at 16,961.66.

Eurozone at 06:15 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was up 0.35%.
• Germany’s DAX gained 0.14%.
• France’s CAC rose 0.91%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.03%.

Commodities at 06:15 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 1.04% at $80.56/bbl, and Brent was up 0.86% at $84.75/bbl.
• Natural Gas was up 0.78% to $1.671.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.29% at $2,174.50, Silver rose 0.34% to $25.242, while Copper slid 0.47% to $4.4012.

US Futures at 06:15 AM ET       

Dow futures were up 0.29%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.32%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.45%.

Forex at 06:15 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar index gained 0.02% to 102.81, the USD/JPY rose 0.05% to 147.81, and the USD/AUD declined 0.04% to 1.5096.

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