Benzinga - by Akanksha Bakshi, Benzinga Editor.
On Wednesday, April 3rd, the U.S. stock markets ended mixed as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq saw gains, tempered by news of the U.S. services sector’s continued slowdown and comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell hinting at no imminent interest rate cuts.
In economic data, U.S. private businesses added 184,000 jobs in March, surpassing February’s 155,000 and expectations of 148,000, while the ISM services PMI dropped to 51.4 from February’s 52.6, missing forecasts of 52.7.
Most key S&P 500 sectors saw increases, with energy materials and communication services leading the way in gains. In contrast, the utilities and consumer staples sectors finished the day with losses.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.11% to close at 39,127.14. The S&P 500 was up 0.11%, ending the day at 5,211.49, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.23%, finishing the session at 16,277.46.
Asian Markets Today
- On Thursday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed the session higher by 0.86% at 39,817.50, rebounding as investors bought back in after an early-week sell-off marked the start of the new financial year.
- In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose by 0.45% to close at 7,817.30. Consumer staples showed minimal movement, whereas industrials, energy, and real estate experienced the largest increases. Financials, mining, and healthcare sectors also saw modest gains.
- India’s Nifty 50 closed higher by 0.36% at 22,514.65, and the Nifty 500 rose 0.29% to 20,664.65.
- China markets closed for the Ching Ming Festival.
- Hong Kong’s markets closed for the Ching Ming Festival.
- The European STOXX 50 index was up 0.07%.
- Germany’s DAX gained 0.04%.
- France’s CAC rose 0.05%.
- U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.44%.
- Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.12% at $85.33/bbl, and Brent was down 0.12% at $89.24/bbl.
- Natural Gas was flat at $1.841.
- Gold was trading lower by 0.09% at $2,313.00, Silver rose 0.27% to $27.133, while Copper was up 1.24% at $4.2475.
Dow futures were up 0.27%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.30%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.44%.
Forex at 06:30 AM ET
The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.15% to 104.09, USD/JPY was up 0.04% to 151.74, and USD/AUD slipped 0.65% to 1.5133.
Image by Steve Bidmead from Pixabay
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