On Wednesday, September 4th, the U.S. closed mixed as labor market data and Fed comments suggested a potential rate cut. Job openings in July dropped to a 3.5-year low, signaling a cooling labor market that could bolster the Fed’s case for a rate cut at its upcoming meeting. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq slipped, while the Dow posted a modest gain.

Economic data revealed the U.S. trade deficit expanded to $78.8 billion in July, the largest since June 2022, rising from $73 billion in June. Meanwhile, job openings fell to 7.673 million in July, down from a revised 7.91 million in June, according to the latest JOLTs report.

Most S&P 500 sectors closed lower, led by losses in energy, tech, and materials, while utilities and consumer staples outperformed and closed higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.09% and closed at 40,974.97. The S&P 500 ended the day lower by 0.16% at 5,520.07, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.30%, finishing the session at 17,084.30.

Asian Markets Today

• On Thursday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed lower by 1.07% at 36,649.00, led by losses in the Precision Instruments, Mining and Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.40%, ending the session at 7,982.40, led by gains in the IT, A-REITs, and Gold sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 declined 0.21%, closing at 25,145.10, while the Nifty 500 closed higher by 0.06% at 23,762.80.
• China’s Shanghai Composite was up 0.14%, ending the session at 2,788.31, and the Shenzhen CSI rose 0.17%, closing at 3,257.76.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended the session lower by 0.07% at 17,444.30.

Eurozone at 06:15 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index declined 0.32%.
• Germany’s DAX rose 0.14%.
• France’s CAC was down 0.56%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 index traded lower by 0.01%.

Commodities at 06:15 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.23% at $69.36/bbl, and Brent was up 0.40% at $73.00 bbl.
• Oil prices edged higher, rebounding from multi-month lows due to a potential OPEC+ delay in output increases and a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude inventories. However, gains were limited by ongoing concerns about demand, particularly in China.
• Natural Gas gained 0.05% to $2.146.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.83% at $2,547.15, Silver gained 1.85% to $29.085, and Copper rose 0.56% to $4.1018.

US Futures at 06:15 AM ET

Dow futures were up 0.07%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.02%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures slid 0.10%.

Forex at 06:15 AM ET

The U.S. dollar index fell 0.16% to 101.19, the USD/JPY was down 0.14% to 144.51, and the USD/AUD gained 0.02% to 1.4873.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock