Asian And European Markets Dip; Gold Trades Above $2K, Crude Oil Approaches $75 - Global Markets Today While US Was Sleeping

On Friday, November 24th, U.S. stock markets closed mixed with minimal changes in a holiday-shortened trading session. 

In economic data, the U.S. services PMI by S&P Global increased to 50.8 in November from 50.6, the highest in four months and above forecasts of 50.4, and the manufacturing PMI dropped to 49.4 from 50, falling short of the expected 49.8.

In the S&P 500, nine out of the eleven sectors finished with gains, with healthcare leading the way. However, the communication services and technology sectors ended the day with losses.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.33% to 35,390.15, the S&P 500 was up 0.06% to 4,559.34, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.11%, ending the session at 14,250.86.

Asian Markets Today

Japan's Nikkei 225 ended Monday's session lower by 0.62% at 33,447.67, led by losses in the Paper & Pulp, Railway & Bus and Services sectors.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.76%, closing the session at 6,987.60, led by losses in the A-REITs, Consumer Discretionary, and Metals & Mining sectors.

China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.30% to close the session at 3,031.70, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 was down 0.74%, closing at 3,511.94.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.22% and closed at 17,529.00.

Asian stock markets mostly saw declines, driven by unfavorable signals from China. Investors were cautious in anticipation of important economic data expected later in the week.

Eurozone at 06:30 AM ET

The European STOXX 600 index was down 0.15%, Germany's DAX declined 0.16%, while France's CAC slid 0.07%.

The UK's FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.21%.

Commodities at 06:30 AM ET

Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 1.38% at $74.51/bbl, and Brent was down by 1.21% at $79.51/bbl.

Natural Gas declined 4.20% to $2.873.

Gold was trading up 0.51% at $2013.95, Silver gained 1.94% to $24.817, and Copper declined 0.43% to $3.8160.

US Futures at 06:30 AM ET                       

Dow futures were down 0.12%, S&P 500 futures slid 0.13%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 0.10%.

Forex at 06:30 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.09% to 103.30. USD/JPY declined 0.27% to 149.04, and AUD/USD slid 0.37% to 1.5141.

Photo Via Wikimedia Commons