Major Asia And Europe Markets Closed For Labor Day; Dollar gains, Gold Drops To $2,300 - Global Markets Today While US Slept

Author: Akanksha Bakshi | May 01, 2024 06:44am

On Tuesday, April 30th, the U.S. stock markets closed sharply lower, influenced by economic reports indicating increasing labor costs and falling consumer confidence, coinciding with a critical Federal Reserve meeting to determine interest rate policies.

The Labor Department reported a 1.2% increase in the employment cost index for Q1, surpassing the expected 1%. Additionally, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 7.3% year-over-year in February.

Every sector of the S&P 500 ended in the red, with energy, information technology, and consumer discretionary stocks suffering the largest declines.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.49% to close at 37,815.92. The S&P 500 was down 1.57%, ending the day at 5,035.69, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 2.04%, finishing the session at 15,657.82.

Asian Markets Today

• On Wednesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed lower by 0.34% at 38,250.50, led by losses in the Precision Instruments, Automobiles & Parts, and Transportation Equipment sectors.
• In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index closed the session down by 1.23% at 7,569.90, led by losses in the Gold, Resources and Metals & Mining sectors.
• India Market closed for Maharashtra Day.
• China market closed for Labor Day.
• Hong Kong market closed for Labor Day.

Eurozone at 05:45 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 market closed for Labor Day.
• Germany’s DAX market closed for Labor Day.
• France’s CAC market closed for Labor Day.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.12%.

Commodities at 05:45 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 1.84% at $80.42/bbl, and Brent was down 1.70% at $84.86 bbl.
• Oil prices fell more than 1%, extending losses for a third session due to optimism about a potential Middle East ceasefire and rising U.S. crude inventories and production.
• Natural Gas declined 2.91% to $1.933.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.11% at $2,300.75, Silver rose 0.26% to $26.727, while Copper was down 0.65% at $4.5347.
• Gold prices dropped in Asian trading on Wednesday, continuing their fall as expectations of hawkish Federal Reserve signals and reduced safe-haven demand due to easing geopolitical tensions influenced the market.

US Futures at 05:45 AM ET                       

Dow futures were down 0.29%, S&P 500 futures declined 0.50%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 0.85%.

Forex at 05:45 AM ET

The U.S. dollar index gained 0.08% to 106.30, the USD/JPY was up 0.07% to 157.92, and the USD/AUD fell 0.11% to 1.5434.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock

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