Asia And European Markets Dip, Crude Falls 1% While Gold Trades Above $2,400 - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Friday, May 20th, U.S. stock markets closed mixed, with the Nasdaq reaching a record high and the S&P 500 rising slightly as technology stocks surged ahead of Nvidia’s earnings and speculation on a potential Federal Reserve rate cut.

The S&P 500 technology sector led gains among the 11 major S&P sectors, driven by chipmakers like Nvidia, while consumer staples, discretionary, and financial astocks recorded the biggest losses.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.49% and closed at 39,806.77. The S&P 500 gained 0.09%, ending the day at 5,308.13, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.65%, finishing the session at 16,794.87.

Asia Markets Today

• On Tuesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.35%, ending the session at 38,953.50. This reversed early gains as investors locked in profits and real estate stocks faced selling due to rising Japanese long-term interest rates.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index closed lower by 0.15% at 7,851.70, as a sell-off in James Hardie and Sonic Healthcare offset gains in tech stocks.
• India’s Nifty 50 was up 0.11% at 22,526.70, and Nifty 500 was trading higher by 0.21% at 21,188.05.
• China’s Shanghai Composite was down 0.42%, ending the session at 3,157.97, and the Shenzhen CSI fell 0.40%, closing at 3,676.16.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended the session lower by 2.12% at 19,220.62.
• Hong Kong stocks saw their biggest drop in five weeks, retreating from 10-month highs as Li Auto’s earnings missed expectations, sparking concerns about corporate performance in China’s economy.

 Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was down 0.81%.
• Germany’s DAX declined 0.56%.
• France’s CAC slid 1.05%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.41%.
•  Commodities at 06:00 AM ET
• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 1.13% at $78.40/bbl, and Brent was down 1.17% at $82.73 bbl.
• Natural Gas gained 0.36% to $2.760.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.80% at $2,418.60, Silver slid 2.02% to $31.775, while Copper was down 0.16% to $5.0705.

US Futures at 06:00 AM ET                       

Dow futures were down 0.04%, S&P 500 futures declined 0.02%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 0.12%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index slid 0.07% to 104.49, USD/JPY was down 0.05% at 156.15, and USD/AUD declined 0.01% to 1.4995.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock