Asia Gains, Europe Markets Mixed; Crude Cools Off On Global Demand Worries While Dollar Strengthens - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Friday, October 11th, U.S. markets closed in green, fueled by strong performances in financial stocks after major banks reported robust quarterly results. JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, and BlackRock surpassed profit expectations, boosting the S&P Financials index. This positive start to earnings season and encouraging inflation data raised expectations for a potential Federal Reserve rate cut in November.

According to economic data, in September, U.S. core producer prices rose by 0.2% from the previous month, slightly lower than the 0.3% increase recorded in August.

Most S&P 500 sectors closed higher on Friday, led by financials, real estate, and industrials, while consumer discretionary and information technology stocks ended lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.97% and closed at 42,863.86. The S&P 500 ended the day higher by 0.61% at 5,815.03, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.33%, finishing the session at 18,342.94.     

Asia Markets Today

• Japan markets closed for the National Sports Day holiday.
• On Monday, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.47% and ended the day at 8,252.80, led by gains in the Gold, Materials and Metals & Mining sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 traded higher by 0.69% at 25,135.45, and the Nifty 500 was up 0.51% at 23,730.75.
• China’s Shanghai Composite rose 2.07% to close at 3,284.32, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 gained 1.91%, finishing the day at 3,961.34.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 0.75% and closed the session at 21,092.87.
• Stock markets held below last month’s highs as China’s stimulus promises failed to impress investors. U.S. and European shares edged up, while China’s yuan weakened and oil prices fell due to demand concerns.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was up 0.01%.
• Germany’s DAX gained 0.32%.
• France’s CAC fell 0.35%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 index traded lower by 0.07%.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 2.70% at $73.50/bbl, and Brent was down 2.57% at $77.02/bbl.
• Oil prices dropped, erasing last week’s gains, as China’s vague stimulus plans failed to inspire confidence and deflationary pressures worsened. Market concerns over potential Israeli attacks on Iranian oil infrastructure persisted.
• Natural Gas was down 1.98% at $2.580.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.03% at $2,675.40, Silver slid 0.56% to $31.578, and Copper declined 1.37% to $4.4318.

U.S. Futures at 06:00 AM ET

Dow futures were down 0.08%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.12%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 017%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. dollar index rose 0.15% to 103.04, the USD/JPY rose 0.20% to 149.43, and the USD/AUD gained 0.23% to 1.4877.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock