Benzinga - by Akanksha Bakshi, Benzinga Editor.
On Tuesday, March 12th, U.S. markets closed higher, with the S&P 500 closing at a record high, boosted by Oracle’s rally and consumer price data that kept hopes alive for upcoming interest rate cuts.
According to economic data, in February 2024, inflation rose to 3.2% year-over-year, exceeding both the prior and anticipated rates of 3.1%. The core CPI grew by 0.4% monthly, matching January’s increase and surpassing the expected 0.3%.
Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) shares soared to a record high after reporting strong quarterly results and announcing an upcoming collaboration with AI chip leader Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA).
S&P 500 sectors mostly ended higher, led by IT, consumer discretionary, and communication services stocks, while utilities and real estate lagged, closing lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.61% to close at 39,005.49. The S&P 500 rose 1.12%, ending the day at 5,175.27, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.54%, finishing the session at 16,265.64.
Asian Markets Today
- On Wednesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed the session lower by 0.40% at 38,687.50, led by losses in the Shipbuilding, Insurance, and Banking sectors.
- In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.22% and closed at 7,729.40, led by gains in the Consumer Discretionary, A-REITs and Financials sectors.
- India’s Nifty 50 closed lower by 1.51% at 21,997.70, and the Nifty 500 declined by 2.60% to 19,646.30.
- China’s Shanghai Composite decreased 0.40% to 3,043.83, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 slid 0.70%, closing at 3,572.36.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.07%, concluding the day at 17,082.11.
- The European STOXX 600 index was up 0.55%.
- Germany’s DAX gained 0.09%.
- France’s CAC rose 0.49%.
- U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.05%.
- Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 1.40% at $78.33/bbl, and Brent was up 1.22% at $82.92/bbl.
- Natural Gas was down 1.11% to $1.695.
- Gold was trading higher by 0.07% at $2,167.70, Silver rose 0.26% to $24.457, while Copper gained 1.37% to $3.9857.
Dow futures were up 0.06%, S&P 500 futures ticker higher by 0.06%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 0.02%.
Forex at 06:45 AM ET
The U.S. dollar index gained 0.02% to 102.98, the USD/JPY rose 0.19% to 147.97, and the USD/AUD climbed 0.05% to 1.5143.
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