Asia Mixed, Europe Advances, Crude Trades Below $80 - Global Markets Today While Us Slept

On Monday, May 6th, U.S. stock markets closed higher for the third consecutive session, fueled by increasing investor optimism about potential Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year.

In economic data, U.S. employers added 175,000 nonfarm jobs in April, down from March’s revised 315,000 and below the expected 238,000. The unemployment rate rose to 3.9%, higher than the anticipated 3.8%.

Most S&P 500 sectors closed higher, with the energy index leading the gains, partly driven by U.S. natural gas futures reaching their highest level in 14 weeks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.46% to close at 38,852.27. The S&P 500 was up 1.03%, ending the day at 5,180.74, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.19%, finishing the session at 16,349.25.

­Asian Markets Today

• On Tuesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.47%, ending the session at 38,796.5, led by gains in the Power, Mining, and Insurance sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index closed higher by 1.44% at 7,793.30, led by gains in the Utilities, Gold, and Consumer Discretionary sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 was down 0.64% at 22,300.00, and Nifty 500 was trading lower by 1.11% at 20,633.80.
• China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.22% to end the session at 3,147.74, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 rose 0.03%, closing at 3,659.01.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.53%, concluding the day at 18,479.37.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was up 0.66%.
• Germany’s DAX gained 0.71%.
• France’s CAC rose 0.39%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 1.06%.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.14% at $78.37/bbl, and Brent was down 0.19% at $83.17 bbl.
• Oil prices stabilized Tuesday amid physical market weakness, contrasting with concerns over Middle East conflicts as ceasefire negotiations faltered and Israel intensified attacks in Gaza.
• Natural Gas slid 0.41% to $2.186.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.36% at $2,322.60, Silver fell 0.60% to $27.435, while Copper was down 0.92% at $4.5725.

US Futures at 06:00 AM ET                       

Dow futures were up 0.17%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.04%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures declined 0.13%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. dollar index gained 0.21% to 105.28, the USD/JPY rose 0.47% to 154.62, and the USD/AUD increased 0.40% to 1.5155.

Japan’s top currency diplomat, Masato Kanda, indicated that Tokyo is prepared to intervene in the foreign exchange market to stabilize the yen if speculative actions disrupt market functions.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock