Asia Market Down, Europe Up, While Crude Oil Hoovers Near $80 - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Thursday, March 14, U.S. markets ended the day in the red, dragged lower by continuing losses in chipmaker stocks and a surge in producer prices, fueling speculation that the Federal Reserve may postpone interest rate cuts.

In economic data, the U.S. Producer Price Index rose by 0.6% month-over-month, surpassing expectations of a 0.3% increase. Retail sales in February grew by 0.6%, against a predicted 0.8% rise following January’s 1.1% drop. Initial jobless claims fell slightly to 209,000 for the week ending March 8, below the anticipated 218,000.

Most S&P 500 sectors ended lower, notably real estate, consumer staples, and utilities. Energy and communication services, however, closed higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.35% to close at 38,905.66. The S&P 500 fell 0.29%, ending the day at 5,150.48, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.30%, finishing the session at 16,128.53.

Asian Markets Today

• On Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed the session lower by 0.33% at 38,737.50, led by losses in the Paper & Pulp, Shipbuilding, and Banking sectors.
• In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.56% and closed at 7,670.30, led by losses in the Gold, Materials and Metals & Mining sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 closed lower by 0.56% at 22,023.35, and the Nifty 500 slid 0.46% to 19,825.20.
• China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.54% to 3,054.64, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 was up 0.22%, closing at 3,569.99.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.42%, concluding the day at 16,720.89.

Eurozone at 07:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was up 0.47%.
• Germany’s DAX gained 0.40%.
• France’s CAC rose 0.46%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.17%.

Commodities at 07:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.58% at $80.28/bbl, and Brent was down by 0.62% at $84.88/bbl.
• Natural Gas was up 0.80% to $1.755.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.15% at $2,170.70, Silver rose 0.89% to $25.282, while Copper gained 1.02% to $4.0868.

US Futures at 07:00 AM ET       

Dow futures were up 0.12%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.18%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.18%.

Forex at 07:00 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index slid 0.05% to 103.31, USD/JPY was up 0.27% to 148.71 and USD/AUD rose 0.26% to 1.5234.

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