Asia Down, Europe Markets Advance, While Crude Oil And Gold Fall – Global Markets Today While US Slept – SmartETFs Asia

On Tuesday, May 7th, U.S. stock markets closed mixed, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average ending slightly higher, extending their winning streaks on expectations of upcoming Federal Reserve rate cuts.

In economic data, the Logistics Manager’s Index dropped to 52.9 in April, down from 58.3 in March.

Most S&P 500 sectors closed higher, led by gains in materials, utilities, and consumer staples, although consumer discretionary and information technology stocks ended the session lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.08% and closed at 38,884.26. The S&P 500 gained 0.13%, ending the day at 5,187.70, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.10%, finishing the session at 16,332.55.

 Asian Markets Today

• On Wednesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 1.54%, ending the session at 38,199.50, led by losses in the Transport, Marine Transport, and Warehousing sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index closed higher by 0.14% at 7,804.50, led by gains in the Industrials, IT and A-REITs sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 was down 0.03% at 22,296.55, and Nifty 500 was trading higher by 0.34% at 20,706.05.
• China’s Shanghai Composite declined 0.03% to end the session at 3,128.48, and the Shenzhen CSI slid 0.79%, closing at 3,630.22.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.93%, concluding the day at 18,313.86.

Eurozone at 05:45 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was up 0.58%.
• Germany’s DAX gained 0.50%.
• France’s CAC rose 0.96%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.55%.

Commodities at 05:45 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 1.51% at $77.21/bbl, and Brent was down 1.38% at $82.01 bbl.
• Oil prices dropped in Asian markets due to rising U.S. crude and fuel inventories, indicating low demand and cautious supply outlooks before next month’s OPEC+ meeting.
• Natural Gas gained 1.36% to $2.240.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.26% at $2,3218.35, Silver fell 0.54% to $27.390, while Copper was down 1.48% at $4.5370.

US Futures at 05:45 AM ET                       

Dow futures were up 0.03%, S&P 500 futures were down 0.01%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures declined 0.02%.

Forex at 05:45 AM ET

The U.S. dollar index gained 0.12% to 105.58, the USD/JPY rose 0.43% to 155.37, and the USD/AUD rose 0.37% to 1.5215.

The dollar stabilized, recovering from losses linked to expected Federal Reserve rate cuts, while the yen weakened further, prompting warnings from Tokyo about economic impacts.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock