On Wednesday, November 20, U.S. markets closed mixed. The Nasdaq slipped, weighed down by geopolitical tensions and Target’s disappointing performance. Nvidia declined ahead of earnings, which later underwhelmed. Meanwhile, the Dow edged higher, and the S&P 500 remained flat.

In economic data, U.S. mortgage applications increased by 1.7% for the week ending November 15, up from the 0.5% rise recorded the previous week.

Healthcare, energy, and materials led S&P 500 gains Wednesday, while consumer discretionary and financials declined.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.32% and closed at 43,408.47, the S&P 500 gained 0.002% to 5,917.11, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.11% to finish at 18,966.14.

Asia Markets Today

• On Thursday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.97% and ended the session at 38,002.50, led by losses in the Insurance, Transportation Equipment, and Power sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.04% and ended the day at 8,323.00, led by losses in the Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, and A-REITs sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 declined 0.73% to 23,346.70, and Nifty 500 slid 0.85% closing at 21,816.45, led by losses in the Public Sector Undertakings, Oil & Gas and Power sectors.
• China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.07% to close at 3,370.40, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 rose 0.09%, finishing the day at 3,989.30.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.53% and closed the session at 19,601.11.

Eurozone at 05:30 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was down 0.36%.
• Germany’s DAX slid 0.02%.
• France’s CAC declined 0.43%.
• FTSE 100 index traded higher by 0.20%

Commodities at 05:30 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 1.70% at $69.94/bbl, and Brent was up 1.58% at $73.95/bbl.
• Oil prices rose amid escalating Russia-Ukraine missile strikes, overshadowing a larger-than-expected U.S. crude inventory increase.
• Natural Gas rose 6.45% to $3.297.
• Gold was trading higher by 0.78% at $2,672.45, Silver was up 0.35% to $31.115, and Copper fell 0.83% to $4.1210.

U.S. Futures at 05:30 AM ET

Dow futures declined 0.07%, S&P 500 futures were down 0.24% and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.35%.

Forex at 05:30 AM ET

The U.S. dollar index gained 0.04% to 106.72, the USD/JPY was down 0.64% to 154.44, and the USD/AUD slid 0.08% to 1.5357.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock