Asia And Europe Markets Decline After Fed's Meet, Gold Surpasses $2,470, While Dollar Strengthens - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Wednesday, July 31, the U.S. stock markets closed higher, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted their biggest gains since February 22. Chip stocks rallied, and the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged, hinting at possible easing in September.

In economic data, U.S. pending home sales rose 4.8% in June after a 1.9% decline, while private businesses added 122,000 jobs in July, down from 155,000 in June.

Seven of the 11 S&P 500 sectors advanced, led by technology and consumer discretionary stocks, while healthcare, real estate, and consumer staples lagged.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.24% and closed at 40,842.79. The S&P 500 gained 1.58%, ending the day at 5,522.30, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.64%, finishing the session at 17,599.40.

Asian Markets Today

• On Thursday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed lower by 2.62%, ending the session at 38,099.50, led by losses in the Communication, Services and Transport sectors.
• Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined sharply after the BOJ adopted a hawkish stance. Governor Kazuo Ueda indicated ongoing rate hikes, signaling an earlier end to stimulative measures. Stocks initially rose but fell after Ueda’s post-market comments.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.28%, ending the day at 8,114.70, led by gains in the A-REITs, IT, and Energy sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 rose 0.21% to 25,004.00, while Nifty 500 was down 0.09% closing at 23,509.10.
• China’s Shanghai Composite was down 0.22%, ending the session at 2,932.39, and the Shenzhen CSI declined 0.66%, closing at 3,419.27.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended the session higher by 2.01% at 17,344.60.

Eurozone at 06:15 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index declined 0.85%.
• Germany’s DAX fell 0.84%.
• France’s CAC was down 0.96%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.15%.

Commodities at 06:15 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.62% at $78.39/bbl, and Brent was up 0.66% at $81.36 bbl.
• Natural Gas gained 1.87% to $2.074.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.19% at $2,477.85, Silver rose 0.20% to $28.995, and Copper slid 1.35% to $4.1203.

US Futures at 06:15 AM ET

Dow futures were up 0.08%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.37%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.49%.

Forex at 06:15 AM ET

The U.S. dollar index gained 0.29% to 104.39, the USD/JPY rose 0.06% to 150.09, and the USD/AUD rose 0.20% to 1.5318.

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