On Thursday, February 1st, U.S. stock markets closed higher, driven by anticipation of major earnings reports and the upcoming employment data.
In economic data, U.S. initial jobless claims rose to 224,000 last week, exceeding the expected 212,000. At the same time, the ISM manufacturing PMI climbed to a high of 49.1 in January, surpassing expectations and marking its highest level since October 2022.
Among the 11 S&P 500 sectors, 10 experienced gains, with consumer discretionary leading the way, closely followed by consumer staples.
Meta Platforms’ (NASDAQ:META) stock rose in after-hours trading due to higher-than-expected revenue and its first dividend announcement. Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares also increased after earnings, while Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell due to China sales not meeting targets despite beating profit and revenue estimates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.97% and closed at 38,519.84; the S&P 500 gained 1.25% to 4,906.19; the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.30%, ending the session at 15,361.64.
Asian Markets Today
On Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed the session lower by 0.30% at 36,158.02, led by losses in the Mining, Transportation Equipment, and Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic sectors.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 1.47% and closed at 7,699.40, led by gains in the A-REITs, IT and Gold sectors.
The Australian stock market hit a new record for the second time this week, driven by gains in tech and real estate stocks amid anticipation of rate cuts. The market’s overall growth since last week is 1.9%.
India’s Nifty 50 closed higher by 0.72% at 21,853.80, and the Nifty 500 rose 0.67% to 19,910.80.
China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 1.46% to 2,730.15, while the Shenzhen CSI 300 slid 1.18%, closing at 3,179.63.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.21%, concluding the day at 15,533.56.
Eurozone at 06:15 AM ET
The European STOXX 600 index was up 0.59%.
Germany’s DAX gained 0.75%.
France’s CAC rose 0.52%.
U.K’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.09%.
Commodities at 06:15 AM ET
Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.54% at $74.22/bbl, and Brent was up 0.55% at $79.13/bbl.
Natural Gas gained 1.07% to $2.072.
Gold was…
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