On Wednesday, May 22, U.S. stock markets closed lower as the three major indexes fell following the release of Fed minutes, revealing disappointment with recent inflation data and expectations of prolonged disinflation.

In economic data, U.S. existing home sales declined by 1.9% month-over-month in April, reaching an annualized rate of 4.14 million units, compared to the revised 4.22 million units in the previous month.

The May Federal Open Market Committee minutes revealed a sobering outlook, highlighting prolonged high interest rates due to persistent inflation concerns, doubts about current policy effectiveness, and a willingness to tighten policy further if necessary.

Most S&P 500 sectors closed lower, with utilities, energy, and materials suffering the largest losses, while healthcare and industrial stocks closed higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.51% and closed at 39,671.04. The S&P 500 declined 0.27%, ending the day at 5,307.01, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.18%, finishing the session at 16,801.54.

Asia Markets Today

• On Thursday, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.28%, ending the session at 39,112.00, led by gains in the Finance & Investment, Insurance, and Communication sectors.
• Japan's manufacturing sector unexpectedly expanded in May, with the au Jibun Bank PMI rising to 50.5 from 49.6 in April, marking the first growth since June 2023 and offsetting a slight services decline.
• Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index closed lower by 0.46% at 7,811.80, led by losses in the Gold, Metals & Mining and Materials sectors.
• India's Nifty 50 was up 1.57% at 22,952.45, and the Nifty 500 closed higher by 1.15% at 21,481.50.
• China's Shanghai Composite was down 1.33%, ending the session at 3,116.39, and the Shenzhen CSI declined 1.16%, closing at 3,641.79.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended the session lower by 1.70% at 18,868.71.

Eurozone at 06:00 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was up 0.36%.
• Germany's DAX gained 0.21%.
• France's CAC rose 0.15%.
• U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded higher by 0.02%.

Commodities at 06:00 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading higher by 0.67% at $78.09/bbl, and Brent was up 0.70% at $82.47 bbl.
• Natural Gas declined 1.16% to $2.808.
• Gold was trading lower by 1.11% at $2,366.70, Silver slid 2.34% to $30.753, while Copper was down 0.71% to $4.8140.
• Gold prices continued to decline in Asian trade, retreating from record highs due to high-interest rate concerns. Industrial metals also fell, with Copper dropping sharply from record highs amid profit-taking but steadied later.

US Futures at 06:00 AM ET

Dow futures were up 0.08%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.52%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 0.88%.

Forex at 06:00 AM ET

The U.S. Dollar Index fell 0.18% to 104.73, USD/JPY was down 0.08% at 156.66, and USD/AUD declined 0.28% to 1.5062.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock