• On Thursday, November 21, U.S. markets closed higher, with the Dow climbing 461 points, the S&P 500 adding 32 points, and the Nasdaq edging up by 6 points. Salesforce led the Dow with solid gains, while Nvidia advanced on strong earnings despite tempered growth projections. Alphabet faced a sharp decline following antitrust pressures from the Justice Department.
• According to economic data, U.S. existing home sales rose by 3.5% in October to an annualized 3.96 million. The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index dropped to -5.5 in November, missing market expectations of 8. Initial jobless claims fell by 6,000 to 213,000 for the week ending November 16.
• Most S&P 500 sectors rose Thursday, led by utilities, financials, and consumer staples, while consumer discretionary and communication services lagged.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.06% and closed at 43,870.35, the S&P 500 gained 0.53% to 5,948.70, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.03% to finish at 18,972.42.

Asia Markets Today

• On Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.84% and ended the session at 38,321.00, led by gains in the Gas & Water, Transportation Equipment, and Banking sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.85% and ended the day at 8,393.80, led by gains in the Energy, Utilities and Healthcare sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 rose 2.25% to 23,875.70, and Nifty 500 gained 1.79%, closing at 22,210.40, led by gains in the Real Estate, Technology, and Public Sector Undertakings sectors.
• China’s Shanghai Composite declined 3.06% to close at 3,267.19, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 fell 3.10%, finishing the day at 3,865.70.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.89% and closed the session at 19,229.97.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was down 0.25%.
• Germany’s DAX slid 0.03%.
• France’s CAC declined 0.19%.
• FTSE 100 index traded higher by 0.74%

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.06% at $70.14/bbl, and Brent was up 0.09% at $74.27/bbl.
• Oil prices gained this week as Ukraine tensions escalated, raising concerns over supply disruptions, and Chinese imports showed signs of increasing.
• Natural Gas rose 0.45% to $3.351.
• 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 06:00 AM ET

Dow futures declined 0.17%, S&P 500 futures were down 0.28% and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.40%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. dollar index gained 0.33% to 107.32, the USD/JPY was down 0.08% to 154.39, and the USD/AUD rose 0.17% to 1.5387. The dollar hit a 13-month high.

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