Asia Markets Mixed, Europe Gain While Crude Oil and Gold Fall Below Key Levels - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Thursday, May 2, the U.S. stock markets closed higher as investors evaluated the Federal Reserve’s dovish rate guidance and mixed earnings. All three indexes closed higher.

According to economic data, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $69.4 billion in March from $69.5 billion in February. Initial jobless claims remained steady at 208,000 for the week ending April 27, against an expected 212,000.

Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed higher, with consumer discretionary, real estate and tech stocks leading. However, materials and healthcare stocks declined.

The Nasdaq rose due to a strong performance from semiconductor stocks after Qualcomm QCOM reported quarterly sales and profits that surpassed analyst expectations.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.85% to close at 38,225.66. The S&P 500 was up 0.91%, ending the day at 5,064.20, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 1.51%, finishing the session at 15,840.96.

Asian Markets Today

• Japan’s Market closed for the Constitution Day holiday.
• On Friday, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index closed higher by 0.55% at 7,629.00, led by gains in the Consumer Discretionary, A-REITs, and IT sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 was down 0.81% at 22,464.95, and Nifty 500 was trading lower by 0.64% at 20,949.05.
• China Market is closed for the Labor Day holiday.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.48%, concluding the day at 18,475.92.

Eurozone at 05:45 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was up 0.59%.
• Germany’s DAX gained 0.42%.
• France’s CAC rose 0.61%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.41%.

Commodities at 05:45 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.08% at $78.89/bbl, and Brent was down 0.05% at $83.63 bbl.
• Natural Gas slid 0.29% to $2.027.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.02% at $2,310.10, Silver slid 0.11% to $26.802, while Copper was up 1.32% at $4.5438.

US Futures at 05:45 AM ET                       

Dow futures were up 0.72%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.30%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 0.57%.

Forex at 05:45 AM ET

The U.S. dollar index declined 0.14% to 105.16, the USD/JPY was down 0.37% to 153.06, and the USD/AUD fell 0.27% to 1.5192.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock