Global Markets Today While US Was Sleeping

On Tuesday, August 8, the U.S. markets closed in the red after credit rating agency Moody's (NYSE: MCO) downgraded several banks, reigniting concerns about the soundness of U.S. banks and the economy.

Eight of the S&P 500's eleven key sectors declined. While financials were undoubtedly among the top decliners, materials, and consumer discretionary sectors also played a significant role.

Investors await the release of consumer and producer price index data for July later this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower by 0.45% at 35,314.49 on Tuesday; the S&P 500 fell 0.42%, closing at 4,499.38; and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.79%, ending the session at 13,884.32.

Asian Markets Today 

Japan's Nikkei 225 ended Wednesday's session lower by 0.40% at 32,225.50, led by losses in the Precision Instruments, Shipbuilding, and Transportation Equipment sectors.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.37%, ending the session at 7,338.00, led by gains in the Financials, Telecoms Services, and IT sectors.

Shanghai Composite closed the session at 3,244.49, down 0.49%, and Shenzhen CSI 300 slid 0.31% to close at 3,967.57.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong rose 0.21%, closing at 19,208.50 due to weak Chinese inflation data.

China's consumer price index (CPI) dropped 0.3% year-on-year in July, compared with an estimated 0.4% decrease. The producer price index (PPI) declined 4.4% versus the forecast down 4.1%.

Eurozone at 05:00 AM ET

The Pan-European STOXX 600 index is up 1.01%. The DAX index in Germany traded 1.27% higher, and the CAC 40 in France rose 1.46%.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.81%.

European stock markets were higher as investors assessed more quarterly corporate earnings.

Commodities at 05:00 AM ET

Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.60% at $83.43/bbl, and Brent was up 0.48% to $86.59/bbl.

Natural Gas was trading higher by 0.83% at $2.800.

Gold was trading up 0.11% at $1,962.05, Silver rose by 0.26% to $22.867, and Copper was up 1.15% to $3.810.

U.S. Futures at 05:00 AM ET

Dow futures were up 0.23%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.35, and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.45%.

Forex at 05:00 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.15% to 102.38. USD/JPY was up 0.01% to 143.39, while USD/AUD was down 0.20% to 1.5253.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons