Benzinga - by Akanksha Bakshi, Benzinga Editor.
On Tuesday, September 19, the U.S. stock markets closed lower, driven by risk-off sentiment, as the U.S. Federal Reserve began its highly anticipated two-day monetary policy meeting.
The U.S., housing starts dropped 11.3% in August to an annualized rate of 1.283 million, the lowest since June 2020, while building permits increased 6.9% to an annual rate of 1.543 million, the highest in 10 months.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day 0.31% lower, ending at 34,517.73. The S&P 500 recorded a 0.22% decline, closing at 4,443.95. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.23% and ended the session at 13,678.19.
Asian Markets Today
- Japan's Nikkei 225 concluded Wednesday's session down 0.73%, closing at 33,022.00, led by losses in the Precision Instruments, Electrical/Machinery, and Power sectors.
- Japan recorded a trade deficit of ¥930.48 billion ($6.3 billion) in August, marking the largest decline in food exports to its Asian neighbor in approximately 12 years.
- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 recorded a 0.46% decline and closed at 7,163.30, a record decline for the third consecutive day, with shares in the materials and energy sectors experiencing losses.
- China's Shanghai Composite closed the session at 3,108.57, down 0.52%, and Shenzhen CSI 300 slid 0.40%, ending at 3,705.69.
- Honk Kong's Hang Seng Stock Exchange slid 0.49% to close at 17,887.00.
- The European STOXX 600 index rose 0.60%.
- Germany's DAX was up 0.64%.
- France's CAC 40 gained 0.34%.
- The U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.71%.
- Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 1.03% at $89.56/bbl, and Brent was down 0.98% to $93.44/bbl.
- Natural Gas fell 3.44% to $2.750.
- Gold was trading lower by 0.12% at $1,951.35, Silver was up 0.25% to $23.517, and Copper gained 0.19% to $3.7542.
Dow futures gained 0.16%, S&P 500 futures were up 0.16%, while Nasdaq 100 futures rose by 0.15%.
Forex at 05.45 AM ET
The U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.13% to 105.07. USD/JPY gained 0.08% to 147.99, and USD/AUD slid 0.22% to 1.546.
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