Asia In Red, Europe Markets Gain; Crude Oil Rises 2.5% - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Thursday, October 31st, U.S. markets closed lower as Microsoft and Meta highlighted rising AI-related costs that could affect future earnings, dampening optimism for megacap stocks that have driven this year’s rally. Meta and Microsoft shares both slipped despite beating earnings estimates, while Amazon and Apple reported strong quarterly results after market close, bolstered by growth in cloud services and iPhone sales, respectively.

According to economic data, U.S. initial jobless claims fell by 12,000 to 216,000 for the week ending October 26th, while the personal consumption expenditure price index rose by 0.2% in September, up from a 0.1% increase in August.

S&P 500 sectors fell, led by information technology, consumer discretionary, and real estate, while utilities and energy stocks closed higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.90% to close at 41,763.46, the S&P 500 declined 1.86% to 5,705.45, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.76% to finish at 18,095.15.

Asia Markets Today

• On Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed lower by 2.79% at 38,009.50, led by losses in the Transportation Equipment, Rubber, and Pharmaceutical Industry sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.50% and ended the day at 8,118.80, led by losses in the Transportation Equipment, Rubber, and Pharmaceutical Industry sectors.
• India markets are closed for the Diwali Holiday.
• China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.22% to close at 3,272.57, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 slid 0.03%, finishing the day at 3,890.90.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.93% and closed the session at 20,506.43.

Eurozone at 06.00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was up 0.59%.
• Germany’s DAX gained 0.56%.
• France’s CAC rose 0.52%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 index traded higher by 0.56%.

Commodities at 06.00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 2.63% at $71.08/bbl, and Brent was up 2.40% at $74.56/bbl.
• Oil prices rose over +2% amid reports of Iran preparing a retaliatory strike on Israel from Iraq. The increase was also supported by expectations that OPEC+ might delay planned production hikes.
• Natural Gas rose 0.07% at $2.792.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.34% at $2,758.65, Silver gained 0.41% to $32.935, and Copper rose 0.60% to $4.3660.

U.S. Futures at 06.00 AM ET

Dow futures were up 0.27%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.35%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.40%.

Forex at 06.00 AM ET

• The U.S. dollar index rose 0.16% to 104.15, the USD/JPY rose 0.48% to 152.77, and the USD/AUD gained 0.26% to 1.5235.
• The dollar steadied after its strongest month in two years as investors awaited U.S. jobs data. The yen softened, giving up recent gains ahead of Japan’s three-day weekend and key risk events.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock