Asia Mostly Lower, Europe Declines, While Gold Holds At $2K - Global Markets Today While US Was Sleeping

On Wednesday, October 25th, U.S. stock markets closed in the red, as Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL shares plunged following its third-quarter financial results. This decline coincided with a rise in U.S. Treasury yields, rekindling fears that interest rates could remain higher for an extended period.

In economic data, new home sales in the United States surged by 12.3%, reaching an annualized rate of 759,000 in September, compared to a revised figure of 676,000 in the previous month.

Out of the 11 primary sectors within the S&P 500, communications services experienced the most significant percentage decline, whereas consumer staples and utilities closed with slight gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 0.32% to 33,035.93, the S&P 500 was down 1.43% to 4,186.77, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 2.43% and closed at 12,821.22.

Asian Markets Today

• Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 2.22% lower at 30,601.78 on Thursday, led by losses in the Power, Railway & Bus and Marine Transport sector.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.61%, closing the session at 6,812.30, led by losses in the IT, A-REITs and Telecoms Services sectors.
• China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.48% to close the session at 2,988.30, while the Shenzhen CSI 300 rose 0.28%, closing at 3,514.14.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.23% and closed at 17,035.00.

Eurozone at 06:15 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was down 0.68%.
• Germany’s DAX slid 1.26%.
• France’s CAC declined 0.57%.
• European stocks tumbled on Thursday, erasing most of their 2023 gains due to disappointing corporate results from Europe and the U.S.. Automakers and banks took a hit, while utilities and energy sectors fared better.
• The U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.52%.

Commodities at 06:15 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 01.15% at $84.38/bbl, and Brent was down 1.03% at $89.20/bbl.
• Natural Gas declined 0.098% to $3.373.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.30% at $2000.80, Silver gained 0.95% to $23.225, and Copper was up 0.67% to $3.6150.

US Futures at 06:15 AM ET

Dow futures were down 0.31%, S&P 500 futures declined 0.64% and Nasdaq 100 Futures slid 1.00%.

Forex at 06:15 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.18% to 106.72. USD/JPY gained 0.06% to 150.31, and AUD/USD was down 0.10% to 1.5837.