Asian Markets Mixed, Europe Trades Higher Influenced By ECB's Signal Of Ending Rate Hike Cycle - Global Markets Today While US Was Sleeping

On Thursday, September 14, U.S. markets ended higher; the Dow surged over 300 points, its biggest single-day gain in over five weeks.

The increase was driven by the strong performance of the U.S. consumer sector, supported by recent retail sales data.

August U.S. producer prices increased by 0.7%, surpassing the expected 0.4% rise. Retail sales also grew by 0.6%, following a revised 0.5% increase in July. 

Initial jobless claims rose by 3,000 to 220,000 in the week ending September 9, slightly lower than market estimates of 225,000.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day 0.96% higher, ending at 34,907.11. The S&P 500 recorded a 0.84% increase, closing at 4,505.10. The Nasdaq Composite experienced a 0.81% rise, ending its session at 13,926.05.

Asian Markets Today 

• Japan's Nikkei 225 concluded Friday's session with an increase of 1.11%, closing at 33,582.50, led by gains in the Rubber, Railway & Bus, and Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic sectors.
• Australia's S&P/ASX 200 recorded a 1.29% rise and closed at 7,279.00, led by gains in the Metals & Mining, Resources and Materials sectors.
• China's Shanghai Composite closed the session at 3,117.74, down 0.28%, and Shenzhen CSI 300 declined 0.66%, ending at 3,708.78.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng Stock Exchange rose 1.03%, closing at 18,238.50; stocks rallied on Friday, reflecting on better-than-expected mainland data, sparking hopes of economic stabilization after a prolonged downturn.

Eurozone at 05.30 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index gained 0.73%.
• Germany's DAX rose 1%.
• France's CAC 40 was up 1.48%.
• European shares continued to rise, driven by a strong rebound following the European Central Bank's indication of ending its rate hike cycle.
• The UK's FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.68%.

Commodities at 05.30 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 028% at $90.42/bbl, and Brent was up 0.23% to $93.92/bbl.
• Natural Gas gained 0.78% to $2.729.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.39% at $1,940.25, Silver was up 1.67% to $23.378, and Copper declined 0.36% to $3.8083.

US Futures at 05.30 AM ET

Dow futures gained 0.22%, S&P 500 futures were up 0.07%, while Nasdaq 100 futures declined by 0.14%.

Forex at 05.30 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.19% to 105.21. USD/JPY increased 0.20% to 147.75, and USD/AUD slid 0.26% to 1.5487.