Japanese Market Shines In Asia, European Markets Steady, Gold Climbs To $2,040 - Global Markets Today While US Was Sleeping

On Tuesday, January 9th, the U.S. stock markets closed mixed, influenced by a slight uptick in Treasury yields, leading to the S&P 500 and Dow Jones ending the session in the red.

In economic data, the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index climbed to 91.9 in December from 90.6 in November. The US trade deficit decreased to $63.2 billion in November, better than the expected $65 billion gap.

Most of the 11 key S&P sectors experienced declines, with energy seeing the largest drop; the tech sector was among the four sectors that gained.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 0.42%, closing at 37,525.16. The S&P 500 was down 0.15% to 4,756.50, and the Nasdaq Composite increased by 0.09%, ending the trading session at 14,857.71.

Asian Markets Today

• Japan's Nikkei 225 closed Wednesday's trading session higher by 2.08% at 34,441.72, led by gains in the Precision Instruments, Transportation Equipment, and Services sectors.
• The Nikkei 225 index hit a 33-year high, crossing 34,000 points for the first time since 1990. Leading the gains, electronics firm Kyocera Corporation rose 6.17%, alongside notable increases from Olympus Corp and pharmaceutical giant Daiichi Sankyo.
• Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.69%, ending at 7,468.50, led by losses in the Metals & Mining, Gold and Materials sectors.
• China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.54% to 2,877.70, while the Shenzhen CSI 300 declined 0.47%, closing at 3,277.13.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.84%, concluding the day at 16,085.00.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was up 0.09%.
• Germany's DAX gained 0.12%.
• France's CAC was up 0.06%.
• The U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.29%.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.03% at $72.22/bbl, and Brent was down 0.09% at $77.52/bbl.
• Natural Gas fell 3.20% to $3.088.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.37% at $2,040.65, Silver gained 0.40% to $23.183, and Copper rose 0.74% to $3.7862.

US Futures at 06:00 AM ET            

Dow futures were down 0.06%, S&P 500 futures increased 0.09%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 0.25%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index slipped 0.16% to 102.40, USD/JPY was up 0.34% to 144.97, and AUD/USD declined 0.27% to 1.4908.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash