Benzinga - by Akanksha Bakshi, Benzinga Editor.
On Thursday, September 28, the U.S. stock markets ended higher, driven by economic data and a pause in rising Treasury yields ahead of a crucial inflation report.
U.S. jobless claims edged up by 2,000 to 204,000, beating market expectations of 215,000. The second-quarter U.S. economic growth remained steady at an annualized rate of 2.1%, while the first-quarter expansion was revised to 2.2%.
Among the S&P 500 sectors, communication services climbed 1.2%, materials saw a 1% increase, and the rate-sensitive utilities sector continued to decline, falling by 2.2%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher by 0.35% at 33,666.34. The S&P 500 saw an increase of 0.59%, settling at 4,299.70, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.83% to conclude at 13,201.28.
Asian Markets Today
- Japan’s Nikkei 225 concluded Friday’s session settling lower by 0.05% at 31,857.62, led by losses in marine transportation, iron and steel, and electric power and Gas sectors.
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.34% and closed at 7,048.60
- China Markets were closed for the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Stock Exchange rose 2.71% to close at 17,822.00, led by consumer cyclicals and real estate stocks.
- The European STOXX 600 index was up 1.01%.
- Germany’s DAX gained 0.80%.
- France’s CAC 40 rose 0.83%.
- Eurozone inflation dropped to its lowest level since October 2021, falling to 4.3% in September, according to flash data released on Friday.
- The U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.77%, as data revealed that the British economy performed better since the onset of the pandemic than initially believed.
- Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.72% at $92.39/bbl, and Brent gained 0.53% to $93.56/bbl.
- Natural Gas was up by 0.41% to $2.957.
- Gold was trading higher by 0.59% at $1,889.75, Silver rose 2.38% to $23.282, and Copper increased by 1.11% to $3.7485.
Dow futures gained 0.42%, S&P 500 futures were up by 0.42%, and Nasdaq 100 futures increased by 0.61%.
Forex at 06:00 AM ET
The U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.49% to 105.70. USD/JPY fell 0.15% to 149.06, and AUD/USD decreased by 1.10% to 1.5388.
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