Benzinga - by Akanksha Bakshi, Benzinga Editor.
On Thursday, May 9, U.S. stock markets closed higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose for the seventh consecutive day, boosted by positive jobless claims data that heightened hopes for interest rate cuts.
According to the economic data, U.S. initial jobless claims rose by 22,000 to 231,000 for the week ending May 4, exceeding the market expectations of 210,000.
Ten of the eleven primary S&P sectors experienced gains, with the real estate and energy stocks leading the way.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.85% and closed at 39,387.76. The S&P 500 was up 0.51%, ending the day at 5,214.08, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.27%, finishing the session at 16,346.27.
Asian Markets Today
- On Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.49%, ending the session at 38,257.00, led by gains in the Precision Instruments, Finance & Investment, and Retail sectors.
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index closed higher by 0.35% at 7,749.00, led by gains in the Energy, Gold and Financials sectors.
- India’s Nifty 50 was up 0.46% at 22,061.55, and Nifty 500 was trading higher by 0.63% at 20,472.40.
- China’s Shanghai Composite was up slightly 0.01% to end the session at 3,154.55, and the Shenzhen CSI rose 0.05%, closing at 3,666.28.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 2.30%, concluding the day at 18,963.68.
- The European STOXX 50 index was up 0.76%.
- Germany’s DAX gained 0.75%.
- France’s CAC rose 0.75%.
- U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.81%.
- Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.61% at $79.77/bbl, and Brent was up 0.51% at $84.31 bbl.
- Natural Gas gained 0.61% to $2.315.
- Gold was trading higher by 1.65% at $2,379.00, Silver rose 1.86% to $28.892, and Copper increased 2.81% at $4.7130.
- Gold prices climbed in Asian trade, continuing gains as signs of a slowing U.S. labor market weakened the dollar and Treasury yields, boosting gold’s appeal. The uptick, ending two weeks of losses, was fueled by safe-haven demand amid doubts about a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and new U.S. trade tariffs on China.
Dow futures were up 0.32%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.40%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.49%.
Forex at 05:45 AM ET
The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.01% to 105.22, USD/JPY was up 0.15% at 155.69, and USD/AUD rose 0.12% to 1.5124.
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