Asia Up, Europe Markets Mixed; Gold Hovers Around $2,000 - Global Markets Today While US Was Sleeping

On Thursday, November 2nd, U.S. stock markets closed higher amid optimism that the Fed's rate hikes have peaked and positive quarterly reports boosted sentiment.

U.S. weekly jobless claims rose slightly to 217,000, exceeding predictions of 210,000, while nonfarm business labor costs dropped by 0.8% in Q3 after a 3.2% previous quarter increase.

Every S&P 500 sector advanced, with energy and real estate leading over 3% gains, communications services saw the smallest increase at 0.9%, and consumer staples climbed by 1.3%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 1.70% to 33,839.08, the S&P 500 increased by 1.89% to 4,317.78, and the Nasdaq Composite saw a 1.78% gain, ending the session at 13,294.19.

Asian Markets Today

• Japan Markets were closed for Culture Day.
• Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.14%, closing the session at 6,978.20 on Friday, led by gains in the A-REITs, Industrials and Healthcare sectors.
• China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.71% to close the session at 3,030.80, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 was up 0.84%, closing at 3,584.14.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 2.60% and closed at 17,687.00.
• China's Caixin Services PMI indicated a slight growth in October's services sector, contrasting with manufacturing's surprise shrinkage.

Eurozone at 06:15 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was up 0.17%
• Germany's DAX gained 0.24%.
• France's CAC slid 0.12%.
• The U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.07%.

Commodities at 06:15 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.29% at $82.22/bbl, and Brent was down by 0.37% at $86.52/bbl.
• Natural Gas gained 1.87% to $3.537.
• Gold traded higher by 0.16% at $1996.75, Silver declined 0.59% to $22.712, and Copper was down 0.20% to $3.6643.

US Futures at 06:15 AM ET

Dow futures were up 0.03%, S&P 500 futures declined 0.12%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures slid 0.31%.

Forex at 06:15 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.16% to 105.95. USD/JPY was down 0.11% to 150.27, and AUD/USD slid 0.16% to 1.5517.