Who Won the U.S. Presidential Debate?

According to economic data, the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index dropped to 91.2 in August, its lowest in three months, down from 93.7 in July.

Most S&P 500 sectors closed higher, led by real estate, tech, and consumer discretionary stocks, while energy and financials declined.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.23% and closed at 40,736.96. The S&P 500 ended the day higher by 0.45% at 5,495.52, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.84%, finishing the session at 17,025.88.

Asian Markets Today

On Wednesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed lower by 1.63% at 35,591.50, led by losses in the Textile, Power and Shipbuilding sectors.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.30%, ending the session at 7,987.90, led by losses in the Financials, Energy, and IT sectors.

India’s Nifty 50 was down 0.43% at 24,933.10, and the Nifty 500 was lower by 0.36% at 23,559.30.

China’s Shanghai Composite was down 0.82%, ending the session at 2,721.80, and the Shenzhen CSI fell 0.30%, closing at 3,186.13.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended the session lower by 0.73% at 17,108.71.

Eurozone at 05:30 AM ET

The European STOXX 50 index gained 0.28%.

Germany’s DAX rose 0.03%.

France’s CAC was up 0.10%.

U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded lower by 0.14%.

Commodities at 05:30 AM ET

Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 2.42% at $67.36/bbl, and Brent was up 2.18% at $70.70/bbl.

Oil prices climbed on Wednesday, recovering from earlier losses due to a drop in U.S. crude inventories and concerns over Hurricane Francine disrupting U.S. output.

Natural Gas rose 0.22% to $2.237.

Gold was trading higher by 0.38% at $2,552.65, Silver gained 1.81% to $29.133, and Copper gained 1.09% to $4.1425.

US Futures at 05:30 AM ET

Dow futures were down 0.46%, S&P 500 futures fell 0.35%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures declined 0.37%.

Forex at 05:30 AM ET

The U.S. dollar index fell 0.24% to 101.39, the USD/JPY was down 0.73% to 141.39, and the USD/AUD fell 0.12% to 1.5013.

The dollar fell to its lowest against the yen in 2023 as Kamala Harris gained ground in the U.S. presidential race, the Bank of Japan signaled continued rate hikes, and investors awaited a key U.S. inflation report, driving demand for safe-haven currencies.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock

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