On Wednesday, October 16th, U.S. markets closed higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting a record high, closing above 43,000 points. Gains in small-caps and financial stocks, led by strong earnings from Morgan Stanley, offset declines in mega-cap tech shares. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also rose.
According to economic data, U.S. export prices declined by 0.7% month-over-month, surpassing market expectations of a drop of 0.4%, and import prices fell by 0.4% compared to the previous month.
Most sectors on the S&P 500 ended higher, with utilities, financials, and real estate stocks leading the gains, while communication services and consumer staples stocks declined.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.79% and closed at 43,077.70. The S&P 500 ended the day higher by 0.47% at 5,842.47, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.28%, finishing the session at 18,367.08.
Asia Markets Today
- On Thursday, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed lower by 0.65% at 38,945.50, led by losses in the Precision Instruments, Electrical/Machinery, and Machinery sectors.
- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.86% and ended the day at 8,355.90, led by gains in the Gold, Industrials and Financials sectors.
- India's Nifty 50 traded lower by 0.88% at 24,750.75, and the Nifty 500 was down 1.25% at 23,376.55.
- China's Shanghai Composite fell 1.05% to close at 3,169.38, while the Shenzhen CSI 300 declined 1.13%, finishing the day at 3,788.22.
- Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 1.02% and closed the session at 20,079.10.
Eurozone at 06.00 AM ET
- The European STOXX 50 index was up 0.73%.
- Germany's DAX gained 0.63%.
- France's CAC rose 1.08%.
- U.K.'s FTSE 100 index traded higher by 0.36%.
Commodities at 06.00 AM ET
- Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.48% at $70.74/bbl, and Brent was up 0.49% at $74.57/bbl.
- Oil prices remained steady as investors awaited developments in the Middle East, U.S. oil inventory data, and China's stimulus plans. Uncertainty over potential conflict-related supply disruptions continues.
- Natural Gas was down 0.21% at $2.362.
- Gold was trading up 0.15% at $2,695.60, Silver slid 0.60% to $31.788, and Copper declined 1.33% to $4.3090.
U.S. Futures at 06.00 AM ET
Dow futures were up 0.09%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.41%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.69%.
Forex at 06.00 AM ET
The U.S. dollar index slid 0.03% to 103.56, the USD/JPY was down 0.02% to 149.59, and the USD/AUD fell 0.39% to 1.4943.
Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock