Asia Markets Ex-China Decline, While Europe Gains; Gold Surpasses $2,400 - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Tuesday, April 16th, the U.S. stock markets ended mixed. Wall Street experienced a decline amid volatile trading, driven by increasing Treasury yields and investor worries about high interest rates in the face of ongoing inflation.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated that, given recent inflation data, interest rates may need to stay higher for longer than expected.

According to economic data, March’s industrial production rose by 0.4%, matching the previous month’s increase. However, building permits fell 4.3% to an annual rate of 1.458 million, and housing starts dropped 14.7% to an annual rate of 1.321 million.

Related: Powell Delays Fed Rate Cuts, Says ‘We Need Greater Confidence In Inflation’: 2-Year Yields Spike To 5%

The S&P 500 mostly ended lower, with utilities, real estate, and energy sectors leading the declines, and information technology and consumer staples stocks saw gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.17% to close at 37,798.97. The S&P 500 fell 0.21%, ending the day at 5,051.41, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.12%, finishing the session at 15,865.25.

Asian Markets Today

• On Wednesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index ended the trading day lower by 1.22% at 38,001.00, led by losses in the Shipbuilding, Chemical, Petroleum and plastic, and Insurance sectors.
• In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.09% to finish at 7,605.60, led by losses in the Energy, Healthcare, and Materials sectors.
• India Markets closed for Shri Ram Navmi holiday.
• China’s Shanghai Composite gained 2.14% to end the session at 3,071.38, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 rose 1.55%, closing at 3,565.40.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index increased slightly by 0.02%, concluding the day at 16,251.84.
• Asian stocks mostly saw modest declines Wednesday, influenced by diminishing hopes for U.S. interest rate cuts and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comments about persistent inflation. Nevertheless, Chinese markets rose on signs of economic recovery and optimism over further stimulus.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was up 0.89%.
• Germany’s DAX gained 0.76%.
• France’s CAC climbed 1.25%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.53%.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 1.01% at $84.50/bbl, and Brent was down 0.96% at $89.13 bbl.
• Natural Gas was down 3.00% at $1.680.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.02% at $2,408.65, Silver rose 0.85% to $28.620, and Copper was up 0.55% at $4.3275.

US Futures at 06:00 AM ET       

Dow futures were up 0.38%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.35%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 0.22%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index slid 0.09% to 106.16, USD/JPY was down 0.10% to 154.56, and USD/AUD slipped 0.43 % to 1.5554.

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