Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.8% to $75.88 while gold traded up 0.7% at $2,556.10.

Silver traded up 2.4% to $29.905 on Thursday, while copper fell 0.1% to $4.2130.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 0.76%, Germany's DAX rose 0.69% and France's CAC 40 rose 0.84%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.23%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.43%.

Annual inflation rate in Germany eased to 1.9% in August from 2.3% in July. The consumer confidence indicator in the Eurozone declined to -13.5 in August, versus earlier expectations of -13.4. The economic sentiment indicator in the Eurozone climbed to 96.6 in August from the revised 96 in the prior month

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 0.02%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gaining 0.53%, China's Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.50% and India's BSE Sensex rising 0.43%.

The consumer confidence index in Japan came in unchanged at 36.7 in August.

Economics

• Core PCE prices in the U.S. increased by 2.8% from the prior quarter in the second, compared to market estimates of 2.9%.
• U.S. initial jobless claims fell by 2,000 from the prior week to 231,000 in the period ending Aug. 24.
• U.S. real gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 3.0% in the second quarter, up from 1.4% in the first quarter.
• The U.S. trade deficit in goods increased to $102.7 billion in July versus a revised $96.6 billion gap in the prior month.
• U.S. wholesale inventories rose by 0.3% month-over-month to $905 billion in July, versus a revised 0.2% gain in the earlier month.
• U.S. natural gas stocks rose 35 billion cubic feet during the week that ended Aug. 23.

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