Asia Markets Advance While Europe Dips, Gold Closes In On $2,400 Again - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Wednesday, May 16th, U.S. stock markets closed significantly higher, with major indexes reaching record highs. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each climbed over 1% following lower-than-expected consumer inflation, which fueled hopes for Federal Reserve rate cuts. Technology stocks led the gains, pushing the Dow closer to the 40,000 mark.

According to the economic data, April U.S. consumer prices rose 0.3% month-over-month, down from 0.4% in March and below market expectations of 0.4%. Annual inflation slowed to 3.4% from 3.5%. U.S. retail sales remained unchanged, following a revised 0.6% increase in March.

Among the S&P 500’s 11 key industry sectors, most saw gains, with rate-sensitive technology stocks and real estate leading the way.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.88% and closed at 39,908.00. The S&P 500 gained 1.17% ending the day at 5,308.15 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.40%, finishing the session at 16,742.39.

Asia Markets Today

• On Thursday Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.41% ending the session at 38,921.00, led by gains in the Manufacturing, Mining and Precision Instruments sectors.
• Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index closed higher by 1.65% at 7,881.30, led by gains in the A-REITs, IT and Consumer Discretionary sectors
• India's Nifty 50 was up 0.91% at 22,402.10, and Nifty 500 was trading higher by 0.90% at 20,927.90.
• China's Shanghai Composite was up 0.08% ending session at 3,122.40, and the Shenzhen CSI rose 0.39%, closing at 3,640.36.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended session higher by 1.59% at 19,376.53.
• World stocks reached a record high and bond markets rallied on Thursday, driven by hopes of interest rate cuts in the U.S. and other major economies. 

Eurozone at 05:45AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was down 0.42%.
• Germany's DAX declined 0.31%.
• France's CAC fell 0.67%.
• U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.34%.
• European stock markets edged lower Thursday, bucking the global rally driven by U.S. inflation data, as investors reacted to disappointing earnings.

Commodities at 05:45AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.27% at $78.41/bbl, and Brent was down 0.29% at $82.50 bbl.
• Natural Gas declined 0.91% to $2.394.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.19% at $2,390.15, Silver rose 0.27% to $29.805, while Copper was increased 0.08% to $4.9287.

US Futures at 05:45AM ET                       

Dow futures were up 0.06%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.07%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.17%.

Forex at 05:45AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.05% to 104.39, USD/JPY was down 0.14% at 154.66, and USD/AUD gained 0.20% to 1.4070.

Photo: maoyunping via Shutterstock