U.S. stock markets closed higher on Friday, August 16, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rising for the seventh consecutive trading day, recovering from a recent sell-off caused by weak economic data and recession fears. Investor sentiment was boosted by positive economic data and growing optimism that the Federal Reserve may begin cutting interest rates in September.
Economic data showed U.S. housing starts fell 6.8% to 1.238 million in July, while building permits fell 4% to 1.396 million. The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index rose to 67.8 in August, beating expectations.
Most sectors in the S&P 500 ended higher, led by financials, technology and utilities, while industrial and energy stocks ended lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.24% to close at 40,659.76, the S&P 500 gained 0.20% to close at 5,554.25 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.21% to close at 17,631.72.
Asian Markets Today
On Monday, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average closed down 2.01% at 37,362.50, hurt by losses in the transportation equipment, warehousing and fishing sectors. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed up 0.12% at 7,980.40, helped by gains in gold, utilities and financials. India's Nifty 50 closed up 0.16% at 24,579.90 and the Nifty 500 closed up 0.40% at 23,150.15. China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.49% to close at 2,893.67, while the Shenzhen CSI rose 0.34% to 3,356.97. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.80% to close at 17,569.57.
Eurozone 6am ET
The European STOXX 50 index rose 0.35%, Germany's DAX rose 0.06%, France's CAC rose 0.33%, and the UK's FTSE 100 fell 0.08%.
Items at 6am EST
WTI Crude Oil was down 0.90% to trade at $74.86 a barrel, while Brent was down 0.86% to trade at $79.03 a barrel. Crude oil prices fell on Monday on concerns of reduced supply risks due to weaker Chinese demand and ongoing ceasefire negotiations in the Middle East. Natural gas rose 0.19% to $2.127. Gold was up 0.02% to trade at $2,537.90, silver was up 0.66% to $29.045 and copper was up 1.22% to trade at $4.1935.
US Futures 6AM ET
Dow futures rose 0.04%, S&P 500 futures fell 0.06% and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.16%.
6am ET Forex
The US Dollar Index fell 0.27% to 102.18, USD/JPY fell 0.83% to 146.36 and USD/AUD fell 0.33% to 1.4953. The dollar weakened and the yen strengthened on dovish signals from the US Federal Reserve and hopes of a possible interest rate cut. The dollar's decline was also driven by expected policy divergences between the US and Japan.
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