Asia Ex-Japana And European Markets Advance; Gold Gains - Global Markets Today While US Slept
Asia and European markets advanced, while gold gained. US stock markets closed mixed, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq falling, while the Dow Jones rose. Initial jobless claims fell and US GDP grew in Q2. Asian markets had mixed results, with Japan's Nikkei down and India's Nifty 50 up. European markets, including Germany's DAX and France's CAC, rose. Crude oil and natural gas prices declined, while gold and copper rose. US futures and forex showed varied movements.
On Thursday, July 25th, U.S. stock markets closed mixed, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite falling, unable to recover from Wednesday’s tech sell-off as investors evaluated megacap stocks’ outlook, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose, buoyed by stronger-than-expected U.S. GDP data.
The U.S. initial jobless claims fell by 10,000 to 235,000 for the week ending July 20, beating estimates of 238,000. The economy grew by 2.8% in Q2, up from 1.4% in the previous quarter, exceeding expectations of 2%.
The S&P 500’s sectors closed mostly negative, with information technology, communication services, and utilities leading the losses. However, energy and industrial stocks rose.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.20% and closed at 39,935.07. The S&P 500 declined 0.51%, ending the day at 5,399.22, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.93%, finishing the session at 17,181.72.
Asian Markets Today
- On Friday, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed lower by 0.64%, ending the session at 37,654.00, led by losses in the Shipbuilding, Communication, and Electrical/Machinery sectors.
- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.76%, ending the day at 7,921.30, led by gains in the Metals & Mining, Materials and Resources sectors.
- India's Nifty 50 rose 1.85% to 24,855.55, and the Nifty 500 was up 1.67%, closing at 23,299.85.
- China’s Shanghai Composite was up 0.14%, ending the session at 2,890.90, and the Shenzhen CSI gained 0.29%, closing at 3,409.29.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended the session higher by 0.10% at 17,021.31.
Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET
- The European STOXX 50 index gained 0.79%.
- Germany's DAX rose 0.21%.
- France's CAC was up 0.87%.
- U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.68%.
Commodities at 06:00 AM ET
- Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.54% at $77.88/bbl, and Brent was down 0.49% at $81.96 bbl.
- Oil prices were nearly unchanged on Friday but headed for a third weekly decline due to weak Chinese demand and expectations of a Gaza ceasefire.
- Natural Gas declined 0.14% to $2.069.
- Gold was trading higher by 0.79% at $2,372.10, Silver fell 0.14% to $27.933, and Copper rose 0.18% to $4.1333.
US Futures at 06:00 AM ET
Dow futures were up 0.49%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.76%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 1.07%.
Forex at 06:00 AM ET
The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.02% to 104.34, USD/JPY was up 0.21% at 154.26, and USD/AUD slid 0.31% to 1.5249.
Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock