On Thursday, October 10th, U.S. markets closed lower as investors weighed conflicting economic data. Inflation came in higher than expected, while jobless claims also rose, signaling potential economic weakness. This uncertainty has led traders to anticipate a possible Federal Reserve rate cut in November.
In economic data, U.S. jobless claims increased to 258,000 in the week ending October 5th, surpassing expectations of 230,000. Meanwhile, annual inflation eased to 2.4% in September, continuing a six-month decline but slightly exceeding the projected 2.3%.
Most S&P 500 sectors closed lower, with real estate, communication services, and industrials seeing the biggest losses, while energy and materials stocks ended higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.14% and closed at 42,454.12. The S&P 500 ended the day lower by 0.21% at 5,780.05, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.05%, finishing the session at 18,282.05.
Asian Markets Today
- On Friday, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed the session higher by 0.42% at 39,581.00, led by gains in the Shipbuilding, Precision Instruments, and Chemical sectors.
- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.10% and ended the day at 8,214.50, led by losses in the Materials, Metals & Mining, and Consumer Discretionary sectors.
- India's Nifty 50 was trading lower by 0.11% at 24,974.85, while the Nifty 500 was up 0.05% at 23,610.10.
- China's Shanghai Composite fell 2.55% to close at 3,217.74, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 declined 2.77%, finishing the day at 3,887.17.
- Hong Kong Markets closed for the Chung Yeung Day holiday.
Eurozone at 05:45 AM ET
- The European STOXX 50 index was down 0.05%.
- Germany's DAX gained 0.01%.
- France's CAC fell 0.02%.
- U.K.'s FTSE 100 index traded lower by 0.24%.
Commodities at 05:45 AM ET
- Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.83% at $75.23/bbl, and Brent was down 0.73% at $78.76/bbl.
- Oil prices declined as investors balanced the potential impact of U.S. hurricane damage on demand with concerns over possible supply disruptions if Israel targets Iranian oil facilities.
- Natural Gas was up 0.71% at $2.694.
- Gold was trading higher by 0.57% at $2,654.20, Silver gained 0.27% to $31.325, and Copper rose 0.69% to $4.4570.
US Futures at 05:45 AM ET
Dow futures were down 0.15%, S&P 500 futures fell 0.17%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures declined 0.28%.
Forex at 05:45 AM ET
The U.S. dollar index slid 0.11% to 102.87, the USD/JPY was up 0.25% to 148.95, and the USD/AUD fell 0.23% to 1.4850.
Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock
