Global Markets Today While US Was Sleeping

On Tuesday, August 1, the U.S. markets ended mixed as investors digested the latest round of quarterly results and economic data.

The ISM Manufacturing PMI in the United States increased to 46.4 in July, from a nearly three-year low of 46 the previous month, but fell short of market expectations of 46.8. In June, job openings fell by 34,000 from the last month to 9.582 million.

Rating agency Fitch downgraded U.S.'s long-term rating from "AAA" to "AA+," citing fiscal deterioration over the next three years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher by 0.20 % at 35,630.68 on Tuesday; the S&P 500 fell 0.27% to close at 4,576.73; and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.43%, ending the session at 14,283.91.

Asian Markets Today 

Japan's Nikkei 225 ended Wednesday's session lower by 2.27% at 32,707.50, led by losses in utilities and health technology stocks. 

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 1.29%, ending the session at 7,354.60; all sectors were in the red. 

Shanghai Composite closed the session at 3,261.69, down 0.89%; Shenzhen CSI 300 fell 0.70% to 3,969.90; stocks in the superconductor and real estate sector led the gains, while those in hotel, tourism, and biopharmaceutical sectors suffered losses.

Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell 2.48%, closing at 19,514.00, reflecting the poor performance of healthcare stocks.

Eurozone at 04:30 AM ET

The Pan-European STOXX 600 index is down 1.60%. The DAX index in Germany traded 1.60% lower, and the CAC 40 in France fell 1.44%.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded lower by 1.72%. 

Commodities at 04:30 AM ET

Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.37% at $81.68/bbl, and Brent was up 0.40% to $85.23/bbl.

Natural Gas was trading higher by 0.04% at $2.561.

Gold was trading up 0.42% at $1,987.04, Silver was higher by 0.51% to $24.453, and Copper was down 1.20% to $3.8628.

U.S. Futures at 04.30 AM ET

Dow futures were down 0.77%, S&P 500 futures slid 1.00%, and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 1.34%.

Forex at 04.30 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.15% to 102.15. USD/JPY was down 0.68% to 142.34, while AUD/USD was down 0.45% to 0.6582.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons