Benzinga | Oct 30, 2020 06:28AM EDT

Global Markets Today: Asia Slips, Europe Recovers From Wednesday's Selloff

Wednesday was one of the worst days for the markets as stocks tumbled globally. Major U.S. indices hit the lows since June, with Dow plunging 3.43%, the S&P 500 down 3.53%, and the Nasdaq shedding 3.73%.

The futures are showing respite early Thursday after most Asian markets slipped, while the European markets recovered. The Dow futures have advanced 0.60%, and the S&P500 futures have gained 0.76% on the last check.

Asia: Japan's Nikkei 225 benchmark closed 0.37% lower on rising coronavirus fears, but strong earnings and outlook from Sony Corp's (NYSE:SNE) limited losses. Bank of Japan kept the interest rate unchanged at -0.10%.

Japan's retail sales fell 8.7% year-over-year in October. Investors will be watching the consumer price index and unemployment numbers scheduled to release Thursday.

China's Shanghai Composite benchmark closed higher by 0.11%, driven by upbeat earnings in the consumer sector. Healthcare stocks gained for the fourth consecutive day.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and South Korea's KOSPI index closed 0.60% and 0.79% lower, respectively. South Korea has a busy economic calendar on Thursday with industrial and retail data scheduled.

India's Nifty 50 index is trading lower by 0.73%, on top of a 1.3% decline on Wednesday.

Europe: Euro Stoxx 50 benchmark is trading higher by 0.10%. The European Union has a busy economic calendar with consumer and business sentiment data and the European Central Bank's monetary policy statement scheduled Thursday.

London's FTSE 100 index is trading higher by 0.20%, driven by gains in industrial and technology stocks, partially offset by bank shares losses. Investors will be watching consumer credit and mortgage lending data.

Germany's DAX has recovered by 0.44% early Thursday after tumbling 4.17% on Wednesday. All major sectors are trading higher as investors await unemployment and consumer price index numbers.

France's CAC 40 index has gained 0.40%, while Spain's IBEX index is lower by 0.30% after the consumer price index for October fell 0.9% YoY.

Forex Trading: U.S. Dollar Index futures have advanced by 0.13% to 93.535. The dollar has gained 0.10% against the Euro to $1.1732, lost 0.05% against the Sterling to $1.2987, and lost 0.06% against the Yen to ?104.23.

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