Benzinga - by Akanksha Bakshi, Benzinga Editor.
On Tuesday, April 30th, the U.S. stock markets closed sharply lower, influenced by economic reports indicating increasing labor costs and falling consumer confidence, coinciding with a critical Federal Reserve meeting to determine interest rate policies.
The Labor Department reported a 1.2% increase in the employment cost index for Q1, surpassing the expected 1%. Additionally, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 7.3% year-over-year in February.
Every sector of the S&P 500 ended in the red, with energy, information technology, and consumer discretionary stocks suffering the largest declines.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.49% to close at 37,815.92. The S&P 500 was down 1.57%, ending the day at 5,035.69, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 2.04%, finishing the session at 15,657.82.
Asian Markets Today
- On Wednesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed lower by 0.34% at 38,250.50, led by losses in the Precision Instruments, Automobiles & Parts, and Transportation Equipment sectors.
- In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index closed the session down by 1.23% at 7,569.90, led by losses in the Gold, Resources and Metals & Mining sectors.
- India Market closed for Maharashtra Day.
- China market closed for Labor Day.
- Hong Kong market closed for Labor Day.
- The European STOXX 50 market closed for Labor Day.
- Germany’s DAX market closed for Labor Day.
- France’s CAC market closed for Labor Day.
- U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.12%.
- Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 1.84% at $80.42/bbl, and Brent was down 1.70% at $84.86 bbl.
- Oil prices fell more than 1%, extending losses for a third session due to optimism about a potential Middle East ceasefire and rising U.S. crude inventories and production.
- Natural Gas declined 2.91% to $1.933.
- Gold was trading lower by 0.11% at $2,300.75, Silver rose 0.26% to $26.727, while Copper was down 0.65% at $4.5347.
- Gold prices dropped in Asian trading on Wednesday, continuing their fall as expectations of hawkish Federal Reserve signals and reduced safe-haven demand due to easing geopolitical tensions influenced the market.
Dow futures were down 0.29%, S&P 500 futures declined 0.50%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 0.85%.
Forex at 05:45 AM ET
The U.S. dollar index gained 0.08% to 106.30, the USD/JPY was up 0.07% to 157.92, and the USD/AUD fell 0.11% to 1.5434.
Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock
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