Asia Markets Mixed, Europe Advances; Crude Oil Steady While Gold Holds Above $2,600 - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Monday, September 16, U.S. markets closed mixed as the S&P 500 edged higher while the Nasdaq fell, weighed by declines in technology stocks.

Apple dropped on lower-than-expected iPhone 16 demand, impacting chipmakers Nvidia, Broadcom, and Micron, pushing the semiconductor index down.

In economic data, The NY Empire State Manufacturing Index jumped to 11.5 in September, the highest since April 2022, exceeding August’s -4.7 and forecasts of -3.9.

The majority of S&P 500 sectors rose, led by communication, financials, energy, and materials, while information technology and consumer discretionary stocks declined.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.55% and closed at 41,622.08. The S&P 500 ended the day higher by 0.13% at 5,633.09, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.52%, finishing the session at 17,592.13.

Asian Markets Today

• On Tuesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed the session lower by 1.03% at 36,204.50, led by losses in the Gas & Water, Services, and Pharmaceutical Industry sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended the day higher by 0.24% at 8,140.90, led by gains in the IT, A-REITs and Industrials sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 was up 0.12% at 25,414.65, and the Nifty 500 was down by 0.01% at 23,968.25.
• China markets closed for the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended the session higher by 1.37% at 17,660.02.

Eurozone at 05:45 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index gained 0.86%.
• Germany’s DAX gained 0.81%.
• France’s CAC was up 0.79%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 index traded higher by 0.77%.

Commodities at 05:45 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.42% at $68.72/bbl, and Brent was down 0.51% at $72.39/bbl.
• Oil prices held steady after rising over $1 in the previous session. Traders balanced concerns over U.S. production disruptions from Hurricane Francine, falling U.S. crude stockpiles, and weaker demand in China. Focus also turned to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy meeting, with expectations of a rate cut potentially boosting oil demand.
• Natural Gas was flat at $2.2371.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.29% at $2,601.15, Silver fell 0.34% to $31.030, and Copper rose 0.16% to $4.2805.

US Futures at 05:45 AM ET

Dow futures were up 0.23%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.33%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 0.54%.

Forex at 05:45 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index fell 0.13% to 100.63, USD/JPY was up 0.03% at 140.64, and USD/AUD declined 0.16% to 1.4787.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock