Asia And Europe Markets Mixed, Gold Retreats - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Monday, April 29th, the U.S. stock markets closed higher, led by significant gains in Tesla and Apple. Investors are waiting for the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decisions.

Tesla TSLA shares surged 15.3% after making headway in securing regulatory approval for its driver-assistance program in China, its second-largest market.

In terms of economic indicators, the Dallas Fed Manufacturing index experienced a minor decline to -14.5 in April, down from -14.4 in March.

Nine of the 11 S&P 500 sectors finished higher, driven by gains in consumer discretionary, utilities, real estate, materials, and industrials, while Communication services and financials lagged.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.38% to close at 38,386.09. The S&P 500 was up 0.32%, ending the day at 5,116.17, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.35%, finishing the session at 15,983.08.

Asian Markets Today

• On Tuesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed higher by 1.17% at 38,379.50, led by gains in the Electrical/Machinery, Gas & Water, and Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic sectors.
• Japanese industrial production exceeded expectations in March, recovering after two months of declines. However, weaker-than-expected retail sales suggest continued soft consumer spending, which could lead to lower inflation shortly.
• In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index closed the session up by 0.35% at 7,664.10, led by gains in the A-REITs, Consumer Discretionary, and Healthcare sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 was down 0.28% at 22,577.00, and Nifty 500 was trading lower by 0.07% at 20,977.65.
• China’s Shanghai Composite declined 0.26% to end the session at 3,104.82, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 slid 0.54%, closing at 3,604.39.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.09%, concluding the day at 17,763.03.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was down 0.47%.
• Germany’s DAX declined 0.44%.
• France’s CAC slid 0.19%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.42%.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.23% at $82.83/bbl, and Brent was up 0.28% at $87.44 bbl.
• Natural Gas gained 2.22% to $2.075.
• Gold was trading lower by 1.26% at $2,328.25, Silver slipped 2.60% to $26.940, while Copper was down 1.00% at $4.6297.
• Gold prices dropped due to increased expectations of sustained high U.S. interest rates and diminished safe-haven demand, spurred by renewed ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas.

US Futures at 06:00 AM ET                       

Dow futures were down 0.04%, S&P 500 futures declined 0.16%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 0.17%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. dollar index gained 0.16% to 105.74, the USD/JPY rose 0.36% to 156.90, and the USD/AUD rose 0.53% to 1.5309.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock