Asia Mixed, Europe Markets Slide, Gold Dips 1.1% - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Friday, May 10th, U.S. stock markets closed mixed, with the S&P 500 and the Dow edging up slightly, while the Nasdaq remained nearly unchanged. Investors reacted to comments from Federal Reserve officials and awaited key inflation data.

Economic data revealed a drop in the University of Michigan consumer sentiment to 67.4 in May from 77.2 last month, against an expected 76. 

Among the 11 key sectors in the S&P 500, consumer staples saw the biggest percentage increases, whereas consumer discretionary stocks trailed behind.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.32% and closed at 39,512.84. The S&P 500 was up 0.16%, ending the day at 5,222.68, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.03%, finishing the session at 16,340.87.

 Asian Markets Today

• On Monday, Japan's Nikkei 225 declined 0.24%, ending the session at 38,165.50, led by losses in the Marine Transport, Insurance, and Communication sectors.
• Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index closed higher by 0.01% at 7,750.00, led by gains in the Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples and Healthcare sectors.
• India's Nifty 50 rose 0.22% to 22,104.05, and Nifty 500 closed higher 0.20% at 20,511.00.
• China's Shanghai Composite was down 0.21% to end the session at 3,148.02, and the Shenzhen CSI declined 0.04%, closing at 3,664.69.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.76%, concluding the day at 19,107.00.

 Eurozone at 06:30 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was down 0.21%.
• Germany's DAX slid 0.09%.
• France's CAC declined 0.17%.
• U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.07%.

Commodities at 06:30 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.41% at $78.58/bbl, and Brent was up 0.31% at $83.05 bbl.
• Natural Gas gained 0.71% to $2.268.
• Gold was trading lower by 1.17% at $2,347.25, Silver slipped 0.66% to $28.323, and Copper increased 1.08% at $4.7125.

US Futures at 06:30 AM ET                       

Dow futures were up 0.08%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.11%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.19%.

Forex at 06:30 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.04% to 105.26, USD/JPY was up 0.09% at 155.86, and USD/AUD fell 0.11% to 1.5131.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock