Asian markets are slumping at the beginning of the trading week, while European markets are mainly posting slight gains.The KOSPI index in South Korea was 1.1% lower, while Taiwan’s TSEC finished down one percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX and Shanghai’s Composite index were both down 0.2%.In late afternoon trading, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong is down 0.6%, and Mumbai’s Sensex is 1% lower.However, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index closed out the day 1.1% higher.Over in Europe, London’s FTSE index is down 0.6%, the CAC-40 in Paris is up 0.8%, and Frankfurt’s DAX index is 0.6 higher.In commodities trading, gold is selling at $1,964.40 an ounce, down 0.5%. U.S. crude is selling at $43.27 per barrel, up 0.7%, while Brent crude is basically unchanged at $45.08 per barrel.All three major U.S. indices are trending positively in futures trading.
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