Asia And European Markets Mixed; Crude Oil Hovers Around $80 - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Wednesday, May 8th, U.S. stock markets closed mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher, marking its sixth consecutive session of gains. The S&P 500 ended unchanged after four sessions of gains, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped for a second consecutive day.

In terms of economic data, U.S. wholesale inventories declined by 0.4% in March compared to a revised 0.2% rise in the prior month.

Materials, real estate, and consumer discretionary stocks led most sectors on the S&P 500 to close negatively, while utilities and financials stocks defied the trend, finishing the session higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.44% and closed at 39,056.39. The S&P 500 was flat, ending the day at 5,187.67, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.18%, finishing the session at 16,302.76.

Asian Markets Today

• On Thursday, Japan's Nikkei 225 declined 0.34%, ending the session at 38,070.50, led by losses in the Glass, Insurance, and Communication sectors.
• Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index closed lower by 1.06% at 7,721.60, led by losses in the Consumer Discretionary, Financials and A-REITs sectors.
• India's Nifty 50 was down 1.55% at 21,957.40, and Nifty 500 was trading lower by 1.73% at 20,342.30.
• China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.83% to end the session at 3,154.32, and the Shenzhen CSI rose 0.95%, closing at 3,664.56.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 1.22%, concluding the day at 18,537.81.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was down 0.40%.
• Germany's DAX gained 0.31%.
• France's CAC fell 0.09%.
• U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.01%.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.68% at $79.53/bbl, and Brent was up 0.57% at $84.06 bbl.
• Natural Gas declined 0.41% to $2.178.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.30% at $2,315.25, Silver rose 0.84% to $27.832, while Copper was down 0.23% at $4.5325.

US Futures at 06:00 AM ET                       

Dow futures were down 0.22%, S&P 500 futures were down 0.25%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures declined 0.32%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index gained 0.13% to 105.68, USD/JPY was up 0.29% at 155.94, and USD/AUD rose 0.03% to 1.5206.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock