On Friday, August 30th, U.S. stocks closed higher, with the Dow reaching a second consecutive all-time high. Strong consumer spending and moderate inflation fueled hopes for a modest Fed rate cut in September, signaling a potential soft landing for the economy.
Economic data showed that July's U.S. personal income rose by 0.3% to $24.015 trillion, with spending up 0.5%. The core PCE price index increased by 0.2%, matching estimates, while the University of Michigan's August consumer sentiment was slightly revised to 67.9.
All 11 S&P 500 sectors closed higher on Friday, with consumer discretionary leading the gains, followed by industrials and information technology.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.55% and closed at 41,563.08. The S&P 500 ended the day higher by 1.01% at 5,648.40, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.13%, finishing the session at 17,713.62.
Asian Markets Today
- On Tuesday, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed higher by 0.14% at 38,728.50, led by gains in the Shipbuilding, Financial Services and Insurance sectors.
- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.08%, ending the session at 8,103.20, led by losses in the Consumer Staples, Metals & Mining, and Resources sectors.
- India's Nifty 50 declined 0.04%, closing at 25,268.90, and the Nifty 500 closed higher by 0.08% at 23,779.00.
- China's Shanghai Composite was down 0.29%, ending the session at 2,802.98, while the Shenzhen CSI gained 0.26%, closing at 3,273.43.
- Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended the session lower by 0.23% at 17,651.49.
Eurozone at 06:15 AM ET
- The European STOXX 50 index declined 0.48%.
- Germany's DAX slid 0.40%.
- France's CAC was down 0.28%.
- U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.57%.
Commodities at 06:15 AM ET
- Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 1.62% at $72.33/bbl, and Brent was down 2.35% at $75.72 bbl.
- Oil prices fell due to concerns over weak economic growth in China, despite some support from halted Libyan oil production and upcoming OPEC+ output increases.
- Natural Gas gained 3.39% to $2.199.
- Gold was trading higher by 0.05% at $2,528.95, Silver fell 1.79% to $28.622, and Copper fell 3.31% to $4.070.
US Futures at 06:15 AM ET
Dow futures were down 0.51%, S&P 500 futures fell 0.54%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures slid 0.75%.
Forex at 06:15 AM ET
- The U.S. dollar index rose 0.15% to 101.80, the USD/JPY was down 0.64% to 145.95, and the USD/AUD gained 0.85% to 1.4853.
- The dollar is near a two-week high as investors await key U.S. economic data that could impact the Federal Reserve's rate decision, while the yen strengthened after the Bank of Japan signaled potential rate hikes.
Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock
