On Tuesday, August 8, the U.S. markets closed in the red after credit rating agency Moody's (NYSE: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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