Asia Markets Mixed, Europe Opens In Green; Gold Trades Near All-Time High - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Thursday, August 8, U.S. stock markets closed higher, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 gaining over 2% as jobless claims fell more than expected, easing labor market concerns.

According to economic data, U.S. jobless claims dropped by 17,000 to 230,000 for the week ending August 3, below the expected 240,000. Wholesale inventories grew 0.2% in June, following a 0.5% increase in May.

The S&P 500 saw gains across all sectors, led by technology and communication services. Eli Lilly shares surged 9.5% after the company raised its profit forecast and saw quarterly sales of its weight-loss drug Zepbound surpass $1 billion.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.76% and closed at 39,446.49. The S&P 500 gained 2.30%, ending the day at 5,319.31and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.87%, finishing the session at 16,660.02.

Asian Markets Today

• On Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed higher by 0.74%, ending the session at 35,081.00, led by gains in the Shipbuilding, Precision Instruments, and Banking sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.25%, ending the day at 7,777.70, led by gains in the IT, Gold, and A-REITs sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 was up 1.03% at 24,364.65, and the Nifty 500 gained 0.96%, closing at 22,922.70.
• China’s Shanghai Composite was down 0.27%, ending the session at 2,862.19, while the Shenzhen CSI declined 0.34%, closing at 3,331.63.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended the session higher by 1.17% at 17,090.23.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index gained 0.46%.
• Germany’s DAX rose 0.50%.
• France’s CAC was up 0.64%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.48%.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.10% at $76.27/bbl, and Brent was up 0.04% at $79.21 bbl.
• Natural Gas gained 2.07% to $2.172.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.01% at $2,463.25, Silver fell 0.28% to $27.530, and Copper rose 2.04% to $4.0400.

US Futures at 06:00 AM ET

Dow futures were up 0.14%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.34%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 0.50%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. dollar index declined 0.01% to 103.20, the USD/JPY was down 0.02% to 147.25, and the USD/AUD gained 0.17% to 1.5194.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock