Europe Markets End Gain Streak, Crude Oil Falls, Gold Gains - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Monday, December 9th, U.S. markets closed lower, driven by a decline in tech stocks. Nvidia faced pressure from a Chinese antitrust investigation, and AMD fell after a downgrade. Investors are closely watching upcoming inflation data, including the consumer price index and producer price index, which are expected to influence the Federal Reserve’s December meeting amid ongoing caution about policy adjustments.

According to economic data, U.S. wholesale inventories rose 0.2% in October to $905 billion, matching preliminary estimates and reversing the previous month’s decline.

S&P 500 sectors fell, led by declines in financials, utilities, and communication services, while healthcare and real estate stocks closed higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.54% and closed at 44,401.93, the S&P 500 declined 0.61% to 6,052.85, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.62% to finish at 19,736.69.

Asia Markets Today

• On Tuesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.55% and ended the session at 39,368.50, led by gains in the Marine Transport, Steel, and Communication sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.36% and ended the day at 8,393.00, led by losses in the IT, Financials, and A-REITs sectors.
• The Reserve Bank of Australia held rates at 4.35%, citing progress toward its inflation target as growth cools. Inflation is expected to reach the target range by 2026, delaying potential policy easing.
• India’s Nifty 50 rose 0.01% to 24,620.50, and Nifty 500 rose 0.13%, closing at 23,322.10.
• China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.59% to close at 3,422.66, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 rose 0.73%, finishing the day at 3,995.64.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.50% and closed the session at 20,311.28

Eurozone at 05:30 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was down 0.45%.
• Germany’s DAX declined 0.09%.
• France’s CAC slipped 0.69%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 index traded lower by 0.65%.
• European shares ended an eight-day winning streak as miner losses followed weak China trade data. Focus now shifts to U.S. inflation data ahead of potential Fed rate cuts.

Commodities at 05:30 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.57% at $67.98/bbl, and Brent was down 0.54% at $71.77/bbl.
• Oil prices dipped as Middle East tensions eased following Syria’s power shift, despite potential demand support from China’s stimulus plans.
• Natural Gas declined 1.13% to $3.136.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.40% at $2,696.61, Silver was down 0.36% to $32.490, and Copper fell 0.54% to $4.2525.

U.S. Futures at 05:30 AM ET

Dow futures were down 0.02%, S&P 500 futures slid 0.01%, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.05%.

Forex at 05:30 AM ET

The U.S. dollar index gained 0.16% to 106.31, the USD/JPY rose 0.25% to 151.56, and the USD/AUD rose 0.68% to 1.5632.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock