Major Asia And Europe Markets Closed For Labor Day; Dollar gains, Gold Drops To $2,300 - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Tuesday, April 30th, the U.S. stock markets closed sharply lower, influenced by economic reports indicating increasing labor costs and falling consumer confidence, coinciding with a critical Federal Reserve meeting to determine interest rate policies.

The Labor Department reported a 1.2% increase in the employment cost index for Q1, surpassing the expected 1%. Additionally, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 7.3% year-over-year in February.

Every sector of the S&P 500 ended in the red, with energy, information technology, and consumer discretionary stocks suffering the largest declines.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.49% to close at 37,815.92. The S&P 500 was down 1.57%, ending the day at 5,035.69, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 2.04%, finishing the session at 15,657.82.

Asian Markets Today

• On Wednesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed lower by 0.34% at 38,250.50, led by losses in the Precision Instruments, Automobiles & Parts, and Transportation Equipment sectors.
• In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index closed the session down by 1.23% at 7,569.90, led by losses in the Gold, Resources and Metals & Mining sectors.
• India Market closed for Maharashtra Day.
• China market closed for Labor Day.
• Hong Kong market closed for Labor Day.

Eurozone at 05:45 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 market closed for Labor Day.
• Germany’s DAX market closed for Labor Day.
• France’s CAC market closed for Labor Day.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.12%.

Commodities at 05:45 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 1.84% at $80.42/bbl, and Brent was down 1.70% at $84.86 bbl.
• Oil prices fell more than 1%, extending losses for a third session due to optimism about a potential Middle East ceasefire and rising U.S. crude inventories and production.
• Natural Gas declined 2.91% to $1.933.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.11% at $2,300.75, Silver rose 0.26% to $26.727, while Copper was down 0.65% at $4.5347.
• Gold prices dropped in Asian trading on Wednesday, continuing their fall as expectations of hawkish Federal Reserve signals and reduced safe-haven demand due to easing geopolitical tensions influenced the market.

US Futures at 05:45 AM ET                       

Dow futures were down 0.29%, S&P 500 futures declined 0.50%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 0.85%.

Forex at 05:45 AM ET

The U.S. dollar index gained 0.08% to 106.30, the USD/JPY was up 0.07% to 157.92, and the USD/AUD fell 0.11% to 1.5434.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock