Benzinga - by Akanksha Bakshi, Benzinga Editor.
On Thursday, February 15th, U.S. stock markets finished on a positive note, driven higher by a greater-than-expected decline in retail sales. This downturn in sales sparked optimism among investors that the Federal Reserve may start lowering interest rates soon.
In economic data, U.S. initial jobless claims dropped to 212,000, surpassing expectations of 220,000 for the week ending February 9th, showing a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week.
U.S. retail sales saw a 0.8% decline in January after a revised 0.4% increase in December, against predictions of a 0.1% drop. Additionally, industrial production in the U.S. experienced a slight reduction of 0.1% in January from the previous month.
The S&P 500 saw most sectors end higher, notably energy, real estate, and materials leading gains, while information technology stocks fell, diverging from the general market uptrend.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.91%, closing at 38,773.12, the S&P 500 advanced by 0.58% to reach 5,029.73, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1030%, concluding the trading day at 15,906.17.
Asian Markets Today
- On Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed the session higher by 0.30% at 38,487.24, led by gains in the Shipbuilding, Insurance, and Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic sectors.
- In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.69% and closed at 7,658.30, led by gains in the Gold, Metals & Mining and Resources sectors.
- India’s Nifty 50 closed higher by 0.59% at 22,040.70, and the Nifty 500 rose 0.64% to 20,164.90.
- China closed for The Chinese New Year.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 2.48%, concluding the day at 16,339.96.
Eurozone at 06:15 AM ET
- The European STOXX 600 index was up 0.63%.
- Germany’s DAX gained 0.77%.
- France’s CAC rose 0.60%.
- U.K’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 1.00%.
- Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.88% at $77.34/bbl, and Brent was down 1.00% at $82.01/bbl.
- Natural Gas declined 0.25% to $1.577.
- Gold was trading higher by 0.19% at $2,018.75, Silver gained 0.53% to $23.073, while Copper rose 0.92% to $3.7927.
Dow futures were down 0.10%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.22%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.60%.
Forex at 06:15 AM ET
The U.S. Dollar Index was up 0.03% to 104.32, USD/JPY climbed 0.20% to 150.20, and AUD/USD slid 0.01% to 1.5324.
Image made via AI on MidJourney
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.