Benzinga - On Monday, April 1st, the U.S. stock markets ended mixed; the Dow and S&P 500 dipped due to concerns over the timing of Fed rate cuts, spurred by strong manufacturing data raising Treasury yields.
In economic data, February saw the headline annual inflation rate, as tracked by the PCE, increase to 2.5% as forecasted, from January’s 2.4%, amid higher-than-anticipated personal spending. Monthly inflation eased to 0.3%, but personal spending surged by 0.8% to $145.5 billion, exceeding expectations.
March’s ISM manufacturing PMI exceeded expectations at 50.3, and U.S. construction spending fell by 0.3% in February.
Most sectors of the S&P 500 saw declines, particularly real estate, healthcare, and utilities, which were among the hardest hit. In contrast, the energy sector experienced gains buoyed by rising crude oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.60% to close at 39,566.85. The S&P 500 was down 0.20%, ending the day at 5,243.77, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.11%, finishing the session at 16,396.83.
Asian Markets Today
- On Tuesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed the session higher by 0.06% at 39,866.50, led by gains in the Machinery, Services, and Transport sectors.
- In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.11% and closed at 7,887.90, led by losses in the Telecoms Services, Healthcare, and A-REITs sectors.
- India’s Nifty 50 closed lower by 0.04% at 22,453.30, and the Nifty 500 rose 0.38% to 20,569.75.
- China’s Shanghai Composite declined 0.08% to 3,074.96, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 was down 0.42%, closing at 3,580.68.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 2.36%, concluding the day at 16,931.52.
Eurozone at 06:15 AM ET
- The European STOXX 50 index was down 0.28%.
- Germany’s DAX declined 0.31%.
- France’s CAC slid 0.01%.
- U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.27%.
Commodities at 06:15 AM ET
- Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 1.88% at $85.37/bbl, and Brent was up 1.87% at $89.02/bbl.
- Brent crude climbed above $88 a barrel Tuesday, its highest since October, due to heightened threats to oil supplies from Ukrainian strikes on Russian facilities and rising Middle East tensions.
- Natural Gas was down 0.49% to $1.828.
- Gold was trading higher by 1.09% at $2,281.65, Silver rose 2.59% to $25.723, while Copper was up 0.92% at $4.0850.
US Futures at 06:15 AM ET
Dow futures were down 0.39%, S&P 500 futures slipped 0.20%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 0.25%.
Forex at 06:15 AM ET
The U.S. dollar index declined by 0.05% to 104.97, the USD/JPY rose by 0.04% to 151.69, and the USD/AUD slid by 0.23% to 1.5373.
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