Asia And European Markets Dip, Crude Falls To $76 - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Thursday, May 23rd, U.S. stock markets closed lower as enthusiasm for Nvidia’s (NVDA.O) results faded, and strong economic data fueled fears of prolonged tight monetary policy. 

Following the data release, U.S. Treasury yields rose. All three major U.S. indexes declined.

In economic data, the S&P Global manufacturing PMI increased to 50.9 from 50 in April, while the services PMI rose to 54.8 from 51.3. The composite PMI also climbed to 54.4 from 51.3, surpassing market expectations of 51.1.

In April, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index fell to -0.23, and jobless claims dropped to 215,000, beating expectations. New single-family home sales declined 4.7% to 634K, and natural gas supplies increased by 78 billion cubic feet.

Technology stocks were the only gainers among the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was sharply down 1.53% and closed at 39,065.26. The S&P 500 declined 0.74%, ending the day at 5,267.84, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.39%, finishing the session at 16,736.03.

Asian Markets Today

• On Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 1.27%, ending the session at 38,614.50, led by losses in the Shipbuilding, Steel, and Gas and water sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index closed lower by 1.08% at 7,727.60, led by losses in the Consumer Discretionary, A-REITs and IT sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 was down 0.05% at 22,957.10, and the Nifty 500 closed lower by 0.03% at 21,483.75.
• China’s Shanghai Composite was down 0.88%, ending the session at 3,088.87, and the Shenzhen CSI declined 1.11%, closing at 3,601.48.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended the session lower by 1.38% at 18,608.94.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was down 0.32%.
• Germany’s DAX declined 0.33%.
• France’s CAC slid 0.09%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.35%.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.75% at $76.26/bbl, and Brent was down 0.74% at $80.77 bbl.
• Natural Gas gained 1.28% to $2.691.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.14% at $2,340.40, Silver rose 1.00% to $30.753, while Copper was up 0.33% to $4.8082.

US Futures at 06:00 AM ET

Dow futures were up 0.11%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.20%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 0.17%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index fell 0.16% to 104.95, USD/JPY was up 0.04% at 157.00, and USD/AUD declined 0.17% to 1.5112.