Asia In Red, UK Advances As Labour Party Wins Majority, While US Dollar Dips Ahead Of Payrolls Data - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Wednesday, July 3rd, U.S. stock markets closed mixed. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq reached record highs, driven by hopes of a Federal Reserve rate cut in September due to softening economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell slightly, impacted by declines in healthcare and consumer stocks.

The ADP Employment report and weekly jobless claims data indicated a softening labor market ahead of the highly anticipated non-farm payrolls report.

Most S&P 500 sectors closed positively, with leading gains in materials, IT, and utilities, while healthcare and consumer staples declined.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.06% and closed at 39,308.00. The S&P 500 gained 0.51%, ending the day at 5,537.02, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.88%, finishing the session at 18,188.30.

Asian Markets Today

• On Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.07%, ending the session at 40,893.50, led by losses in the Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic, Rubber, and Banking sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed lower at 0.12%, ending the day at 7,822.30, led by losses in the Metals & Mining, Materials and Resources sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 closed higher by 0.09% at 24,323.85, and Nifty 500 rose 0.32% to 22,987.65.
• China’s Shanghai Composite was down 0.26%, ending the session at 2,949.93, and the Shenzhen CSI fell 0.43%, closing at 3,431.06.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended the session lower by 1.13% at 17,825.08.
• Chinese stocks fell following the implementation of EU tariffs on Chinese EV imports and rising China-Taiwan tensions, heightening trade war concerns.

Eurozone at 06:15 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index gained 0.55%.
• Germany’s DAX rose 0.91%.
• France’s CAC was up 0.45%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.21%. The Labour Party has officially won the U.K. election with enough seats in the 2024 general election to have a majority in parliament. The vote counting still continues.

Commodities at 06:15 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.01% at $83.89/bbl, and Brent was down 0.14% at $87.32 bbl.
• Natural Gas declined 2.85% to $2.349.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.06% at $2,371.15, Silver fell 0.08% to $30.817, and Copper gained 2.88% to $4.6640.

US Futures at 06:15 AM ET

Dow futures were up 0.05%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.04%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 0.11%.

Forex at 06:15 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index fell 0.17% to 105.17, USD/JPY was down 0.35% at 160.69, and USD/AUD slid 0.15% to 1.4845. The dollar hovered near a three-week low ahead of payroll data.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock