On Thursday, September 5, U.S. markets closed mixed, with the S&P 500 and Dow finishing lower after a brief lift from economic reports, while the Nasdaq ended slightly higher. Investors stayed cautious ahead of key jobs data, which could shape upcoming Federal Reserve rate decisions. Positive reports helped ease concerns over labor market weakness.

In economic data, U.S. private businesses added 99,000 jobs in August, below market expectations of 145,000. Initial jobless claims fell by 5,000 to 227,000 for the week ending August 31, slightly better than the 230,000 estimate.

Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors declined, with healthcare and industrials leading the losses. The consumer discretionary sector led the gainers, partly boosted by Tesla's performance.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.54% and closed at 40,755.75. The S&P 500 ended the day lower by 0.30% at 5,503.41, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.25%, finishing the session at 17,127.66.

Asian Markets Today

• On Friday, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed lower by 0.62% at 36,422.50, led by losses in the Precision Instruments, Mining and Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic sectors.
• Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.39%, ending the session at 8,013.40, led by gains in the Financials, Consumer Discretionary and Consumer Staples sectors.
• India's Nifty 50 declined 1.17%, closing at 24,852.15, while the Nifty 500 closed lower by 1.20% at 23,477.70.
• China's Shanghai Composite was down 0.81%, ending the session at 2,765.81, and the Shenzhen CSI fell 0.81%, closing at 3,231.35.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended the session flat at 17,444.30.

Eurozone at 06:15 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index declined 0.42%.
• Germany's DAX fell 0.56%.
• France's CAC was down 0.23%.
• U.K.'s FTSE 100 index traded lower by 0.39%.

Commodities at 06:15 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.48% at $69.50/bbl, and Brent was up 0.52% at $73.08/bbl.
• Oil prices held steady as investors awaited U.S. jobs data, though both Brent and WTI were headed for weekly losses. Concerns over U.S. and Chinese demand, along with delayed OPEC+ output increases, kept prices under pressure.
• Natural Gas gained 1.24% to $2.284.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.24% at $2,549.50, Silver gained 0.32% to $29.192, and Copper rose 0.17% to $4.1445.

US Futures at 06:15 AM ET

Dow futures were down 0.32%, S&P 500 futures fell 0.63%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures slid 1.12%.

Forex at 06:15 AM ET

• The U.S. dollar index fell 0.14% to 100.97, the USD/JPY was down 0.37% to 142.91, and the USD/AUD gained 0.03% to 1.4839.
• Global shares hovered near three-week lows, oil faced its worst week since 2023, and the dollar weakened as investors awaited U.S. jobs data. European and Asian markets fell, while Treasury yields declined. Analysts expect the payroll report to influence upcoming Federal Reserve rate cuts.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock