Asia Markets Mixed, Europe Advances, Dollar Pressured By Soft US Inflation Data – Global Markets Today While US Slept

On Thursday, May 15, U.S. markets closed mixed as Cisco rose on strong guidance linked to AI demand, while UnitedHealth fell sharply after reports of a criminal Medicare fraud probe. Amazon and Walmart slipped amid tariff concerns. Investors remain optimistic about potential trade deals, though inflation data stayed soft and companies continue to pull forecasts due to uncertainty.

In economic data, U.S. jobless claims held steady at 229,000 for the week ending May 10. April retail sales rose just 0.1%, down from March’s revised 1.7% gain. Producer prices fell 0.5% in April, missing expectations for a 0.2% rise.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.65% to 42,322.75, the S&P 500 rose 0.41% to 5,916.93, while the Nasdaq declined 0.18% to 19,112.32.

Asia Markets Today

• On Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.01% higher at 37,757.50, led by gains in the Real Estate, Banking, and Textile sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.56%, ending the session at 8,343.70, led by gains in the Gold, A-REITs, and Metals & Mining sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 was down 0.16% at 25,023.70, and Nifty 500 rose 0.38% to 22,874.90.
• China’s Shanghai Composite declined 0.40% to 3,367.46, and the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 was down 0.46% to 3,889.09.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed the session 0.46% lower at 23,345.05.

Eurozone at 05:45 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was up 0.61%.
• Germany’s DAX index gained 0.80%.
• France’s CAC 40 rose 0.70%.
• The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index traded higher by 0.62%.
• European stocks rose, capping a strong week driven by upbeat earnings and a U.S.-China trade truce, while low oil prices and soft U.S. data supported global markets and bonds.

Commodities at 05:45 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.06% at $61.65/bbl, and Brent was up 0.08% at $64.58/bbl.
• Natural Gas declined 0.48% to $3.346.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.41% at $3,212.94, Silver was down 0.81% to $32.423, and Copper fell 1.49% to $4.6145.

U.S. Futures at 05:45 AM ET

Dow futures were up 0.33%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.22%, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.22%.

Forex at 05:45 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.07% to 100.74, USD/JPY was down 0.08% to 145.54, and USD/AUD slid 0.22% to 1.5576.

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