Asia Markets Ex-China Dips, Europe Advances, While Gold Reaches $2,360 - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Friday, April 12th, the U.S. stock markets ended sharply lower after lackluster results from key banks, ending a week shaped by inflation data, shifting Federal Reserve policy expectations, and rising geopolitical risks. All major indices fell over 1%, marking weekly declines.

In economic data, U.S. export prices rose 0.3% in March after a 0.7% increase the previous month. Import prices climbed 0.4% in March, up from February’s 0.3%. University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment dropped to 77.9 in April from 79.4 in March.

Related: Major US Banks Top Q1 Earnings Estimates As High-Interest Rates Offer Tailwinds: ‘Indicators Continue To Be Favorable,’ Jamie Dimon Says

Each of the S&P 500’s 11 main sectors ended lower, with the materials sector experiencing the largest percentage decline.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.24% to close at 37,983.24. The S&P 500 fell 1.46%, ending the day at 5,123.41, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 1.62%, finishing the session at 16,175.09.

Asian Markets Today

• On Monday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index ended the trading day lower by 0.90% at 39,209.50, led by losses in the Paper and pulp, Retail, and Chemical, Petroleum, and plastic sectors. 
• In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.46% to finish at 7,752.50, led by losses in the IT, Gold, and Telecoms Services sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 closed lower by 1.10% at 22,272.50, and the Nifty 500 slid 1.29% to 20,478.75.
• China’s Shanghai Composite gained 1.26% to end the session at 3,057.38, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 rose 2.11%, closing at 3,549.08. 
• Chinese stocks rose, with the CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite up after hitting 1.5-month lows. Despite recent poor economic data, market confidence was boosted by government promises of support and state fund purchases of major bank shares.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.72%, concluding the day at 16,600.46.  

Eurozone at 06:30 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was up 0.92%.
• Germany’s DAX gained 0.99%.
• France’s CAC rose 0.72%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.44%.

Commodities at 06:30 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.91% at $84.86/bbl, and Brent was down 0.81% at $89.73 bbl.
• Natural Gas was down 0.56% at $1.760.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.34% at $2,366.30, Silver gained 0.38% to $28.433, while Copper was up 0.83% at $4.2940.

US Futures at 06:30 AM ET       

Dow futures were up 0.28%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.41%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 0.51%.

Forex at 06:30 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.12% to 105.91, USD/JPY was up 0.39% to 153.89, and USD/AUD slid 0.25 % to 1.5425.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock