Asia Mixed, Europe Markets Gain; Gold Slips And Dollar Gains Against Yen - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Tuesday, November 19th, U.S. markets ended mixed. Nasdaq rose over 1%, and the S&P 500 closed higher, driven by technology gains as Nvidia surged 4.9% ahead of earnings. Walmart climbed after raising forecasts. Losses eased after Moscow downplayed nuclear tensions. The Dow ended lower.

According to economic data, U.S. housing starts fell 3.1% to 1.311 million in October, down from 1.353 million in September, while building permits dropped 0.6% to an annual rate of 1.416 million.

The majority of S&P 500 sectors rose, led by energy, communication services, and consumer discretionary, while industrials lagged and closed lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.28% and closed at 43,268.94, the S&P 500 gained 0.40% to 5,917.00, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.04% to finish at 18,987.47.

Asia Markets Today

On Wednesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.08% and ended the session at 38,373.50, led by losses in the Paper & Pulp, Gas & Water, and Transport sectors.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.57% and ended the day at 8,326.30, led by losses in the Telecoms Services, Industrials, and Consumer Discretionary sectors.

India Markets closed for Assembly Elections in Maharashtra state.

China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.66% to close at 3,367.99, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 rose 0.22%, finishing the day at 3,985.77.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.21% and closed the session at 19,705.01.

Eurozone at 05:30 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was up 0.47%.
• Germany’s DAX rose 0.47%.
• France’s CAC gained 0.34%.
• FTSE 100 index traded higher by 0.22%

Commodities at 05:30 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.38% at $69.47/bbl, and Brent was up 0.26% at $73.51/bbl.
• Natural Gas rose 2.00% to $3.058.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.14% at $2,627.60, Silver fell 0.98% to $30.957, and Copper rose 0.31% to $4.1550.

U.S. Futures at 05:30 AM ET

Dow futures gained 0.15%, S&P 500 futures were up 0.06% and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.01%.

Forex at 05:30 AM ET

• The U.S. dollar index gained 0.40% to 106.63, the USD/JPY rose 0.74% to 155.80, and the USD/AUD rose 0.40% to 1.5370.
• The U.S. dollar rebounded from a one-week low as safety-haven demand eased, while the yen fell to a three-month low, raising speculation about BOJ intervention.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock