India Elections Pull Down Asia, Europe Markets Dip And Crude Drops 2% Hitting $72 - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Monday, June 3rd, the U.S. stock markets exhibited mixed results. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both saw modest gains during a volatile trading session, influenced by disappointing manufacturing data and a technical issue at the New York Stock Exchange that temporarily halted trading for numerous stocks.

According to economic data, U.S. construction spending dipped 0.1% month-over-month to $2,099 billion in April, compared to a 0.2% decline previously and against expectations of a 0.2% rise. The ISM manufacturing PMI also dropped to 48.7 in May from 49.2 in April, missing market forecasts of 49.6.

A technical glitch at the New York Stock Exchange caused significant fluctuations in shares of Berkshire Hathaway and Barrick Gold. The issue led to trading halts for at least 60 NYSE-listed stocks before the exchange resolved the problem and trading resumed.

Most S&P 500 sectors ended lower, with industrials, utilities, and energy experiencing the largest losses while information technology and healthcare stocks advanced.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.30% and closed at 38,571.03. The S&P 500 gained 0.11%, ending the day at 5,283.40, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.56%, finishing the session at 16,828.63.

Asia Markets Today

• On Tuesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.35%, ending the session at 38,804.50, led by losses in the Fishery, Paper & Pulp, and Transportation Equipment sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index closed lower by 0.31% at 7,737.10, led by losses in the Energy, Resources and Materials sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 declined 5.93% to 21,884.50, and the Nifty 500 closed lower by 6.76% to 20,323.85.
• Indian stocks significantly declined on Tuesday from their all-time highs on Monday, as the ruling government, BJP’s predicted landslide victory in the highly anticipated general election of 2024 was not as clear-cut as initially anticipated.
• China’s Shanghai Composite was up 0.41%, ending the session at 3,091.20, while the Shenzhen CSI rose 0.75%, closing at 3,615.67.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended the session higher by 0.22% at 18,444.11.

Eurozone at 06:15 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was down 1.08%.
• Germany’s DAX declined 1.16%.
• France’s CAC slid 0.86%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.54%.

Commodities at 06:15 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 2.21% at $72.54/bbl, and Brent was down 1.95% at $76.83 bbl.
• Oil prices dropped to a four-month low in Asian trade in response to OPEC+ signaling that it will start to reduce its production cutbacks later this year and to fears over slowing demand caused by bad economic indicators.
• Natural Gas gained 0.25% to $2.763.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.66% at $2,353.70, Silver fell 2.79% to $29.927, and Copper was down 2.22% to $4.5637.

US Futures at 06:15 AM ET         

Dow futures were down 0.51%, S&P 500 futures slipped 0.56%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures declined 0.54%.

Forex at 06:15 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index gained 0.15% to 104.31, USD/JPY was down 0.71% at 155.00, and USD/AUD rose 0.82% to 1.5075.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock