Asia Mixed, Europe Markets Advance While Crude Hits $80 Again - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Tuesday, June 18th, the U.S. stock markets finished in green. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq reached record highs, driven by Nvidia’s surge, while the Dow edged up slightly amid subdued pre-holiday trading and weak U.S. retail sales data.

Nvidia NVDA overtook Microsoft MSFT to become the world’s most valuable company, with a market cap of $3.22 trillion.

According to economic data, the U.S. retail sales rose 0.1% in May, missing expectations of 0.2%, while industrial production increased by 0.9%, exceeding the forecast of 0.3%.

Most S&P 500 sectors closed higher, led by industrials, tech, and financials, while communication services and consumer discretionary stocks ended lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.15% and closed at 38,834.86. The S&P 500 rose 0.25%, ending the day at 5,487.03, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.02%, finishing the session at 17,860.43.

Asian Markets Today

• On Thursday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.29%, ending the session at 38,646.50, led by gains in the Textile, Chemical, and Services sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed almost flat at 0.004%, ending the day at 7,769.40. Losses in the Healthcare, IT, and Consumer Staples sectors led to the decline.
• India’s Nifty 50 closed higher by 0.22% at 23,567.00, and Nifty 500 gained 0.36% at 22,305.10.
• China’s Shanghai Composite was down 0.42%, ending the session at 3,005.44, and the Shenzhen CSI fell 0.72%, closing at 3,503.28.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended the session lower by 0.63% at 18,313.72.

Eurozone at 07:15 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index gained 0.87%.
• Germany’s DAX rose 0.54%.
• France’s CAC was up 1.01%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.43%.

Commodities at 07:15 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.09% at $80.78/bbl, and Brent was up 0.31% at $85.31 bbl.
• Natural Gas declined 1.58% to $2.863.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.26% at $2,352.95, Silver rose 2.59% to $30.335, and Copper was up 0.43% to $4.4095.

US Futures at 07:15 AM ET

Dow futures were up 0.13%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.45%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 0.66%.

Forex at 07:15 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index gained 0.13% to 105.39, USD/JPY was up 0.22% at 158.44, and USD/AUD fell 0.02% to 1.4987.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock