Benzinga - by Akanksha Bakshi, Benzinga Editor.
On Thursday, March 7th, U.S. markets closed in higher, with the S&P 500 hitting a record high, up 1%, and the Nasdaq climbing 1.5%, driven by tech and growth stocks amid growing optimism for Federal Reserve rate cuts.
In economic data, U.S. jobless claims held steady at 217,000, above forecasts of 215,000, while the trade deficit widened to $67.4 billion in January from $63.5 billion.
Of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, nine advanced, with technology and communications services leading, while financial and real estate stocks declined.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.34% to close at 38,791.35. The S&P 500 rose 1.03%, ending the day at 5,157.36, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.51%, finishing the session at 16,273.38.
Asian Markets Today
- On Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed the session higher by 0.25% at 39,699.00, led by gains in the Gas & Water, Shipbuilding, and Banking sectors.
- In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 1.07% and closed at 7,763.70, led by gains in the Financials, Healthcare, and Consumer Staples sectors.
- India markets closed for Mahashivratri holiday.
- China’s Shanghai Composite increased 0.61% to 3,046.02, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 rose 0.43%, closing at 3,544.91.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.76%, concluding the day at 16,353.39.
- The European STOXX 600 index was down 0.07%.
- Germany’s DAX declined 0.18%.
- France’s CAC rose 0.02%.
- U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.51%.
- Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.79% at $78.31/bbl, and Brent was down 0.42% at $82.61/bbl.
- Natural Gas was down 1.65% to $1.788.
- Gold was trading higher by 0.48% at $2,175.55, Silver rose 0.59% to $24.723, while Copper gained 0.21% to $3.9343.
Dow futures were down 0.35%, S&P 500 futures fell 0.18%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures were down by 0.29%.
Forex at 07:15 AM ET
The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.06% to 102.77, USD/JPY was down 0.73% to 146.95, and USD/AUD slid 0.40% to 1.5046.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels
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