S&P 500 Dow Jones Nasdaq: U.S Stock Market on Tuesday: S&P 500, Dow Jones, Nasdaq for record trading? These factors will decide
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 13.91 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 7,412.84 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 27.05 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 26,274.13, record closing highs for both. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 95.31 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 49,704.47, still shy of its February 10 record close.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 2.38 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 1,108.01. Earlier the pan-European STOXX 600 index closed up 0.11 per cent.
Oil Price
In energy markets, oil prices settled up nearly 3 per cent after Trump’s comments fueled supply fears as the Strait of Hormuz stayed largely closed with no clear end in sight for the war.
U.S. crude settled up 2.78 per cent, or $2.65 at $98.07 a barrel. Brent rose to $104.21 per barrel, up 2.88 per cent, or $2.92 for the day.
USD Dollar Price
In currencies, the dollar retreated from session highs after Trump’s rebuff of Iran’s response kept concerns about an extended war intact.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.05 per cent to 97.96, with the euro down 0.06 per cent at $1.1777.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar strengthened 0.37 per cent to 157.23.
Sterling weakened 0.16 per cent to $1.361 as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer attempted to quell a rebellion within his ruling Labour party following a mauling in last week’s local elections.
Iran-U.S. War
Oil prices rallied as Trump said the U.S. ceasefire with Iran was “on life support,” after dismissing Tehran’s response to a U.S. peace proposal as “stupid.” His remarks stoked worries that the 10-week-old conflict will drag on, paralyzing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s response had focused on ending the war on all fronts and Tehran demanded compensation for war damage, emphasized its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, and called on the U.S. to end its naval blockade, guarantee no further attacks, lift sanctions and remove a ban on Iranian oil sales.
But, with the Middle East expected to be a key part of the agenda this week at Trump and Xi’s first face-to-face talks in more than six months, Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said that investors were cautiously hopeful for some progress toward peace.
“It’s all about the strait and when it’s going to open,” said Wren. “There’s some optimism that China will have some influence in resolving the strait issue.”
Gold Price
Gold prices reversed course to rise in volatile trading on Monday, as investors assessed developments in U.S.-Iran diplomacy and waited for key U.S. inflation data due later this week.
Spot gold rose 0.44 per cent to $4,735.39 an ounce. U.S. gold futures rose 0.15 per cent to $4,727.70 an ounce.
U.S. Treasury Yields
U.S. Treasury yields rose as rising oil prices stoked inflation worries.
The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose 4.6 basis points to 4.41 per cent, from 4.364 per cent late on Friday. The 30-year bond yield rose 3.6 basis points to 4.9835 per cent.
The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, rose 5.9 basis points to 3.952 per cent.
