Asia And Europe Markets Gain, Crude Oil Dips To $76, And Gold Falls Back To $2K - Global Market Overview While The US Slept

On Wednesday, February 14th, U.S. stock markets closed in green, driven by notable increases in ride-hailing firms Lyft and Uber.

Lyft LYFT soared 35% after beating profit estimates and forecasting its first positive free cash flow in 2024. Uber UBER jumped nearly 15% to a record high, fueled by a $7 billion share buyback plan.

In economic data, the U.S. annual inflation rate decreased to 3.1% in January from December's 3.4%, yet it exceeded the market's expectations of 2.9%.

Among the 11 S&P 500 sector indices, nine experienced gains, with industrials leading the way, closely followed by communication services.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.40%, closing at 38,424.27, the S&P 500 advanced by 0.96% to reach 5,000.62, and the Nasdaq Composite ascended by 1.30%, concluding the trading day at 15,859.15.

Asian Markets Today

• On Thursday, Japan's Nikkei 225 index closed the session higher by 1.22% at 38,157.94, led by gains in the Retail, Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic and Precision Instruments sectors.
• In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.77% and closed at 7,605.70, led by gains in the IT, A-REITs, and Consumer Discretionary sectors.
• India's Nifty 50 closed higher by 0.32% at 21,910.75, and the Nifty 500 rose 0.58% to 20,037.00. 
• China closed for The Chinese New Year.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.41%, concluding the day at 15,944.63.

Eurozone at 06:15 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was up 0.51%.
• Germany's DAX gained 0.63%.
• France's CAC rose 0.68%.
• U.K's FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.01%.

Commodities at 06:15 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.80% at $76.03/bbl, and Brent was down 0.77% at $80.97/bbl.
• Natural Gas gained 1.12% to $1.627
• Gold was trading higher by 0.18% at $2,007.85, Silver gained 1.14% to $22.642, while Copper rose 0.42% to $3.7155.

US Futures at 06:15 AM ET       

Dow futures were up 0.15%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.14%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.12%.

Forex at 06:15 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.13% to 104.59, USD/JPY fell 0.34% to 150.05, and AUD/USD slid 0.11% to 1.5387.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash