On Thursday, August 1st, U.S. stock markets closed lower due to data raising concerns about the economy slowing too rapidly amid the Federal Reserve's restrictive monetary policy. Although early gains in Meta Platforms initially lifted stocks, worries over AI-related earnings and the outlook for megacap stocks have recently pressured the market.

In economic data, the ISM manufacturing PMI fell to 46.6 in July from 48.5 in June, below the expected 48.8. Construction spending decreased by 0.3% to an annual rate of $2,148 billion in June. Initial jobless claims rose by 14,000 to 249,000 for the week ending July 27th, exceeding the forecast of 236,000.

The S&P 500's sectors closed mixed, with utilities, real estate, and consumer staples leading gains, while information technology and energy stocks lagged.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.21% and closed at 40,347.97. The S&P 500 declined 1.37%, ending the day at 5,446.68, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 2.30%, finishing the session at 17,194.15.

Asian Markets Today

• On Friday, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed drastically lower by 5.73%, ending the session at 35,917.50, led by losses in the Shipbuilding, Real Estate, and Insurance sectors.
• Japanese markets suffered after the BOJ's hawkish stance, and a stronger yen impacted export-exposed stocks. Toyota fell 3.1% following slightly missed earnings and warnings of slowing demand.
• Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 2.11%, ending the day at 7,943.20, led by losses in the Consumer Discretionary, A-REITs, and IT sectors.
• India's Nifty 50 slid 1.25% to 24,699.50, and Nifty 500 was down 1.11%, closing at 23,245.50.
• China's Shanghai Composite was down 0.92%, ending the session at 2,905.34, and the Shenzhen CSI declined 1.02%, closing at 3,384.39.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended the session lower by 2.08% at 16,945.51.

Eurozone at 06:15 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index declined 1.69%.
• Germany's DAX fell 1.52%.
• France's CAC was down 0.94%.
• U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.61%.

Commodities at 06:15 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.17% at $76.46/bbl, and Brent was up 0.18% at $79.66 bbl.
• Natural Gas gained 0.91% to $1.986.
• Gold was trading higher by 1.05% at $2,507.05, Silver rose 1.87% to $29.012, and Copper gained 0.90% to $4.1195.
• Gold prices are rising due to safe-haven demand, expectations of U.S. Fed rate cuts in September, recent weak U.S. economic data, and fears of a retaliatory strike by Iran in the Middle East.

US Futures at 06:15 AM ET

Dow futures were down 0.91%, S&P 500 futures fell 1.26%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures declined 1.90%.

Forex at 06:15 AM ET

The U.S. dollar index declined from 0.28% to 104.13%, the USD/JPY was down 0.38% at 148.80, and the USD/AUD slid from 0.10% to 1.5366.

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