On Tuesday, August 8, the U.S. markets closed in the red after credit rating agency Moody's MCO downgraded several banks, reigniting concerns about the soundness of U.S. banks and the economy.
Eight of the S&P 500's eleven key sectors declined. While financials were undoubtedly among the top decliners, materials, and consumer discretionary sectors also played a significant role.
Investors await the release of consumer and producer price index data for July later this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower by 0.45% at 35,314.49 on Tuesday; the S&P 500 fell 0.42%, closing at 4,499.38; and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.79%, ending the session at 13,884.32.
Asian Markets Today
Japan's Nikkei 225 ended Wednesday's session lower by 0.40% at 32,225.50, led by losses in the Precision Instruments, Shipbuilding, and Transportation Equipment sectors.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.37%, ending the session at 7,338.00, led by gains in the Financials, Telecoms Services, and IT sectors.
Shanghai Composite closed the session at 3,244.49, down 0.49%, and Shenzhen CSI 300 slid 0.31% to close at 3,967.57.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong rose 0.21%, closing at 19,208.50 due to weak Chinese inflation data.
China's consumer price index (CPI) dropped 0.3% year-on-year in July, compared with an estimated 0.4% decrease. The producer price index (PPI) declined 4.4% versus the forecast down 4.1%.
Eurozone at 05:00 AM ET
The Pan-European STOXX 600 index is up 1.01%. The DAX index in Germany traded 1.27% higher, and the CAC 40 in France rose 1.46%.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.81%.
European stock markets were higher as investors assessed more quarterly corporate earnings.
Commodities at 05:00 AM ET
Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.60% at $83.43/bbl, and Brent was up 0.48% to $86.59/bbl.
Natural Gas was trading higher by 0.83% at $2.800.
Gold was trading up 0.11% at $1,962.05, Silver rose by 0.26% to $22.867, and Copper was up 1.15% to $3.810.
U.S. Futures at 05:00 AM ET
Dow futures were up 0.23%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.35, and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.45%.
Forex at 05:00 AM ET
The U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.15% to 102.38. USD/JPY was up 0.01% to 143.39, while USD/AUD was down 0.20% to 1.5253.
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