US stocks overcome early decline amid tensions between Israel and the Gaza Strip Cryptocurrency scrgruppen

October 9, 2023

US markets showed resilience on Monday, initially giving in to concerns about the escalating conflict between Israel and Gaza, but later rebounding to close in the green. The Dow Jones index closed up 0.5% to 33,604.65 points. The S&P 500 index rose 0.6% to 4,335.66 points. The Nasdaq index, which was dominated by technology stocks, rose to 13,484.24 points, up 0.4%. The S&P index fell slightly at 10:50 AM EST, having fallen from 4,281.91 to 4,285.73, a loss of 3,852 points, but this loss was erased by the end of the day. The other two indicators made similar movements down and then up.

At the weekend, the Palestinian armed group Hamas launched an attack on Israel. The new outbreak of war caused some traders to fear that volatility would shake the market, causing bearish sentiment to take over early on. However, these concerns were largely ignored throughout the day. Shares of defense-related companies rose, with Lockheed Martin rising 8.5% and Northrop Grumman 11%. Oil producers also made gains thanks to the belief that higher oil prices are coming.

Gold received support from the turmoil, rising $13.59 (0.74%) to $1,861.53.

Oil was also higher today, with WTI reaching $86.29, representing a gain of 4.24% on the day. Brent crude rose to $88.05, up 4.09% on the day. GasBuddy issued a report stating that gasoline prices in the United States had fallen by $0.11 per gallon, but this was mostly overlooked and failed to stem the rise in oil prices due to the war.

The US dollar index rose 0.03% to 106.08. Coinciding with the rise in the dollar, the euro fell 0.2220% to 1.0566. The yen gained 0.5138%, bringing the number of yen needed to buy the dollar to 148.5070. The yen has traded sideways since September 25, when the Bank of Japan said it would intervene if the currency fell much further. Before that date, it had lost 13% of its value since the beginning of the year.

Information for this story was obtained from CNBC, OilPrice, Yahoo Finance, MSN Money, and Marketwatch.

Vintage Finance is dedicated to in-depth exploration and reporting of traditional financial news, tracing the journey of global markets and economies from the Stone Age to the Stone Age.