U.S. stock markets closed lower on Tuesday, August 20. The S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow all posted slight losses, ending an eight-day winning streak. This decline comes as investors take a cautious pause ahead of the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, which brings together representatives of central banks from around the world.

Among the eleven major sectors of the S&P 500, energy stocks recorded the largest decline, while consumer goods stocks led the way with an increase of 0.5 percent.

Eli Lilly’s LLY Shares rose 3.1% after weight-loss drug Zepbound significantly reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes. Palo Alto Networks PANW rose 7.2% on strong forecasts for fiscal year 2025, while Boeing fell 4.2% following an FAA directive for the 787 Dreamliner.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.15% to close at 40,834.97. The S&P 500 ended the day down 0.20% at 5,597.12 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.33% to end the session at 17,816.94.

Asian markets today

• On Wednesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.35 percent lower at 37,969.50, mainly due to losses in the precision instruments, mining and machinery sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.16% to end the day at 8,010.50, led by gains in the IT, gold and metals and mining sectors.
• India’s Nifty 50 gained 0.16% to close at 24,579.90 and the Nifty 500 closed 0.40% higher at 23,150.15.
• China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.35% to end the session at 2,856.58, and the Shenzhen CSI declined 0.33% to close at 3,321.64.
• The Hang Seng in Hong Kong ended the session down 0.69% at 17,391.01.

Eurozone at 06:15 ET

• The European STOXX 50 index rose 0.09 percent.
• The German DAX rose by 0.39 percent.
• The French CAC rose 0.31%.
• The British FTSE 100 was up 0.22 percent.

Commodities at 6:15 a.m. ET

• Crude oil WTI traded 0.56% higher at USD 73.54 per barrel and Brent rose 0.58% to USD 77.65 per barrel.
• Natural gas fell 0.68% to $2,183.
• Gold traded 0.27% lower at $2,543.65, silver gained 0.33% to $29.617 and copper rose 0.69% to $4.1870.

US futures at 6:15 a.m. ET

Dow futures rose 0.07%, S&P 500 futures added 0.08% and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.05%.

Forex at 6:15 a.m. ET

The US dollar index rose 0.08% to 101.52, USD/JPY rose 0.58% to 146.07 and USD/AUD rose 0.16% to 1.4844.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock