Stocks fell around the globe, bonds rose and oil hit $90 a barrel on concern that the Israel war with Hamas will escalate into a wider conflict in the Middle East.
(Bloomberg) — Stocks fell around the globe, bonds rose and oil hit $90 a barrel on concern that the Israel war with Hamas will escalate into a wider conflict in the Middle East.
The S&P 500 dropped for a fourth straight session. The gauge approached its 200-day moving average, a threshold seen by some chartists as a harbinger of more losses, if crossed. Wall Street’s “fear gauge” — the VIX — hovered near its highest since March. Treasury 10-year yields pushed away from the 5% mark. Gold rose. Bitcoin briefly topped $30,000.
Israel’s military said it struck Hamas targets in Gaza overnight and responded to fire from Lebanon by hitting Hezbollah assets. The US said its military bases in Iraq and Syria are increasingly under attack. Leaders from around the region prepare to gather in Cairo for a summit.
“The ongoing situation in the Middle East has triggered a surge of volatility in the oil and stock markets, compelling investors to re-evaluate their strategies and shift their focus from riskier assets to ‘safer’ investments,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and Forex.com.
The US stock market has been whipped around in recent weeks by rising geopolitical concerns, climbing Treasury yields and growing worries about interest rates staying elevated for longer. Despite that, the third-quarter earnings season has so far been net positive.
Of the 86 companies in S&P 500 that have announced results through Friday morning, 74% beat analysts’ profit estimates, compared with 78% for the whole season a year ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Corporate Highlights
- American Express Co.’s third-quarter revenue and profit soared to record levels as the company continued to attract new cardholders willing to pay an annual fee for its premium products.
- SLB, the biggest oil-services provider, posted its first sequential dip in North American sales since the start of 2021 as explorers ramp up spending in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world.
- Solar stocks dropped after equipment-maker SolarEdge Technologies Inc. reported preliminary third-quarter sales that were far below the average analyst estimate,
- Jazz Pharmaceuticals Plc is exploring strategic options including a potential sale, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- The S&P 500 fell 0.2% as of 9:30 a.m. New York time
- The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.3%
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1%
- The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.9%
- The MSCI World index fell 0.3%
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
- The euro was little changed at $1.0584
- The British pound was little changed at $1.2148
- The Japanese yen was little changed at 149.94 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
- Bitcoin rose 2.7% to $29,505.98
- Ether rose 2.2% to $1,601
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined five basis points to 4.94%
- Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.91%
- Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.67%
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.9% to $90.14 a barrel
- Gold futures rose 0.5% to $1,989.90 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Yongchang Chin and Alex Longley.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
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