Asia Markets Mixed, Europe Gains, Gold's Up Run Continues - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Tuesday, April 9th, the U.S. stock markets ended mixed, ahead of inflation data; Nasdaq and S&P 500 saw modest gains, driven by tech, despite financial stocks' drag.

In economic data, the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index fell for the third consecutive month, registering at 88.5 in March, below the anticipated 90.2.

Nine of the S&P 500's 11 major sectors ended up, with real estate seeing the most significant percentage increase. Financials trailed as the sector with the largest declines.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.02% to close at 38,883.67. The S&P 500 gained 0.14%, ending the day at 5,209.91, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.32%, finishing the session at 16,306.64.

Asian Markets Today

• On Wednesday, Japan's Nikkei 225 index ended the trading day lower by 0.49% at 39,565.50, led by losses in the Paper and pulp, Pharmaceutical Industry, and Retail sectors.
• In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.31% to finish at 7,848.50, led by gains in the A-REITs, Healthcare, and Materials sectors.
• India's Nifty 50 closed higher by 0.49% at 22,753.80, and the Nifty 500 rose 0.60% to 20,915.20.
• China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.70% to 3,027.33, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 slipped 0.81%, closing at 3,504.71. 
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 1.87%, concluding the day at 17,139.17.  
• China's stock market dipped due to struggling real estate shares, contrasting with Hong Kong's rise led by tech. Weakened property sales in March add pressure, with investors eyeing upcoming economic data for policy direction.

Eurozone at 06:15 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was up 0.70%.
• Germany's DAX gained 0.69%.
• France's CAC climbed 0.49%.
• U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.60%.

Commodities at 06:15 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.28% at $85.44/bbl, and Brent was up 0.25% at $89.64bbl.
• Natural Gas was up 2.46% at $1.918.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.15% at $2,366.15, Silver gained 0.74% to $28.188, while Copper was up 0.64% at $4.3130.

US Futures at 06:15 AM ET       

Dow futures were up 0.11%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.02%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures slid 0.02%.

Forex at 06:15 AM ET

The U.S. dollar index declined 0.07% to 104.07, the USD/JPY rose 0.04% to 151.84, and the USD/AUD rose 0.07% to 1.5099.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock