On Thursday, U.S. initial jobless claims unexpectedly fell to 197,000, and ISM manufacturing input costs rose, pushing the U.S. Dollar Index above the 102 mark to its highest level since April of last year. It ultimately closed up 0.55% at 102.03.The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose before retreating; it briefly touched 5.34% during the session (a high not seen since 2002) but ultimately fell 4.8 basis points to close at 5.247%;The yield on the 2-year U.S. Treasury note, which is sensitive to the Fed’s policy rate, fell 9.8 basis points to 4.804%.
Spot gold stabilized and rebounded amid long-term buying driven by expectations of moderate inflation and central banks’ structural “de-dollarization,” ultimately closing up 0.48% at $4,176.95 per ounce;Spot silver ultimately closed up 0.98% at $60.98 per ounce.
The U.S. military deployed a third aircraft carrier and up to 10,000 additional troops to the Middle East; Trump stated that Iran must either sign an agreement or cease to exist. International oil prices surged significantly after experiencing sharp volatility.WTI crude oil ultimately closed up 2.75% at $91.89 per barrel; Brent crude oil ultimately closed up 4.1% at $101.52 per barrel.
U.S. stocks closed with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.04%, the S&P 500 up 0.2%, and the Nasdaq up 0.04%.Accenture (ACN.N) rose 15.99%, SK Hynix rose 5.08%, SanDisk (SNDK.O) rose 2.75%, IBM (IBM.N) rose 2.63%, and Micron Technology (MU.O) rose 3.03%;Broadcom (AVGO.O) fell 2.15%, and Google (GOOG.O) fell 1.7%. The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index fell 1.03%, with NetEase (NTES.O) down 0.45% and Alibaba (BABA.N) down 0.09%.