China's Big Gain Lifts Asia Markets, Europe Mostly Up, While Gold Trades Above $2,040 - Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Monday, February 5th, U.S. stock markets closed in red as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell strongly dismissed rumors of upcoming rate cuts.

In economic data, the ISM services PMI in the U.S. climbed to 53.4 in January, up from 50.5 the previous month, surpassing the market’s expectations of 52.

Among the 11 key S&P sectors, only technology and healthcare saw advances, while materials, utilities, and real estate stocks recorded the most significant losses.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.71% and closed at 38,380.12, the S&P 500 slipped 0.37% to 4,942.81, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.20%, ending the session at 15,597.68.

Related: Fed’s Kashkari Echoes Powell’s Hawkish Stance: ‘Monetary Policy Is Not As Tight As We Would Have Assumed’

Asian Markets Today

• On Tuesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed the session lower by 0.56% at 36,160.66, led by losses in the Warehousing, Trading and Transport sectors.
• Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.58% and closed at 7,581.60, led by losses in the I.T., Metals & Mining and Gold sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 closed higher by 0.72% at 21,929.40, and the Nifty 500 rose 0.91% to 20,033.75. 
• China’s Shanghai Composite climbed 3.23% to 2,789.49, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 gained 3.48%, closing at 3,311.69.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is up 4.04%, concluding the day at 16,136.87.
• Chinese stocks surged to their biggest one-day gain in two years, driven by clear signs of increased government support for the struggling markets.

Eurozone at 06:15 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was up 0.03%.
• Germany’s DAX declined 0.16%.
• France’s CAC rose 0.12%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.37%.

Commodities at 06:15 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.26% at $72.97/bbl, and Brent was up 0.35% at $78.26/bbl.
• Natural Gas gained 0.77% to $2.098.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.09% at $2,041.00, Silver declined 0.16% to $22.387, while Copper rose 0053% to $3.7732.

U.S. Futures at 06:15 AM ET       

Dow futures were down 0.19%, S&P 500 futures slid 0.02%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 0.20%.

Forex at 06:15 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index was up 0.10% to 104.57, USD/JPY gained 0.04% to 148.71, and AUD/USD slid 0.13% to 1.5405.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash