Crude Prices Decline as Asian Markets Display Diverging Trends; Eurozone Economic Growth Prospects Slashed – Update

On Friday, September 8, the U.S. markets ended higher, driven by energy stocks, which climbed over 1%, supported by the recent decision by Saudi Arabia and Russia to extend supply cuts, maintaining momentum in oil prices.

Wall Street’s key indexes saw weekly declines, driven by investor concerns over interest rates and anticipation of upcoming U.S. inflation data. The S&P 500 dropped 1.3%, the Nasdaq lost 1.9%, and the Dow fell 0.8% during the shortened week due to Labor Day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day with a 0.22% gain, finishing at 34,576.59. S&P 500 saw a 0.14% increase, closing at 4,457.49. The Nasdaq Composite registered a 0.09% rise, concluding its session at 13,761.53.

Asian Markets Today 

• Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended Monday’s session down 0.41% at 32,475.00, led by losses in the Power, Mining, and Machinery sectors.

• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.50% and ended the session at 7,192.30, led by gains in the Financials, Consumer Staples, and Resources sectors.

• China’s Shanghai Composite closed the session at 3,142.78, up 0.84%, and Shenzhen CSI 300 rose 0.74%, ending at 3,767.54.

• Chinese shares stood out on Monday, driven by improved data over the weekend, indicating a shift away from deflation as consumer price inflation rebounded in August.

• In August, consumer prices inched up by 0.1% year-on-year, falling short of the expected 0.2% increase and following a 0.3% drop in July. Core inflation remained steady at 0.8% in August.

• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Stock Exchange slid 0.57%, closing at 18,097.50. Alibaba suffered significant losses following the unexpected departure of its cloud unit leader.

Eurozone at 06.15 AM ET

• The European STOXX 600 index was up 0.33%. Germany’s DAX index rose 0.42%.

• France’s CAC 40 climbed higher 0.49%.

• The Eurozone’s economic growth outlook has been downgraded by the European Commission, with slower growth expected in 2023 and 2024 due to high inflation and Germany slipping into recession. The Commission now projects a GDP expansion of 0.8% in 2023 and 1.3% in 2024, down from previous forecasts of 1.1% and 1.6% made in May.

• The U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.18%.

Story continues

Commodities at 06.15 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.75% at $88.85/bbl, and Brent was down 0.46% to $90.23/bbl.

• Natural Gas slid 1.61% to $2.563.

• Gold was trading higher by 0.29% at $1,948.35. Silver rose 0.97% to $23.402, while Copper was up 1.49% to $3.7717.

US Futures at 06.15 AM ET

Dow futures increased 0.18%, S&P 500 futures were up 0.32%, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.48%.

Forex at 06.15 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.38% to 104.69. USD/JPY fell 0.68% to 146.80, while USD/AUD declined by 0.60% to 1.556.

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This article Asian Markets Remain Mixed, Crude Falls While Eurozone Economic Growth Outlook Downgraded – Global Markets Today While US Was Sleeping originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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