US stock markets closed mixed on Friday, March 22, with the S&P 500 index unchanged but posting its biggest weekly gain of 2024 after the Fed reiterated its plan for three interest rate cuts before the end of the year. The Nasdaq posted slight gains, helped by continued enthusiasm for artificial intelligence.
In the latest economic updates, Baker Hughes Inc. announced last week a decrease of 1 in the total count of active oil rigs in the United States.
FedEx FDX rose 7.4% after beating Wall Street’s profit expectations, while Acquisition of the digital world DWAC it lost 13.7% after the approval of the merger with Donald Trump’s technology company.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.77% to close at 39,475.90. The S&P 500 fell 0.14%, ending the day at 5,234.18, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.16%, closing the session at 16,428.82.
Asian markets today
- Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed the session 1.10% lower at 40,445.50 on Monday, led by losses in the shipbuilding, mining and transportation equipment sectors.
- In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.53% to close at 7,811.90, led by gains in the A-REIT, Energy and Healthcare sectors.
- Indian markets were closed for the Holi holidays.
- China’s Shanghai Composite index fell 0.71% to 3,026.31, while the Shenzhen CSI 300 fell 0.54% to close at 3,525.76.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.16%, ending the day at 16,473.64.
Eurozone at 06:15 ET
- The European STOXX 600 index lost 0.27%.
- The German DAX fell 0.10%.
- The French CAC slipped 0.51%.
- The UK’s FTSE 100 traded 0.38% lower.
Commodities at 6:15 a.m. ET
- WTI crude oil traded 0.86% higher at $81.35 a barrel, while Brent crude rose 0.81% to $85.52 a barrel.
- Natural gas fell 1.16% to $1.791.
- Gold traded 0.53% higher at $2,171.40, silver rose 0.14% to $24.878 and copper rose 0.22% to $4.0160.
Future USA at 6:15 am ET
Dow futures fell 0.22%, S&P 500 futures fell 0.21% and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.30%.
Forex at 06:15 ET
The US dollar index gained 0.32% to 104.34, the USD/JPY fell 0.08% to 151.30 and the USD/AUD slipped 0.27% to 1, 5308.
Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock