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Investors scrambled to invest Friday as geopolitical concerns and soaring oil prices roiled Wall Street.
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CNN
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U.S. stocks closed sharply lower on Friday as Wall Street worried about escalating tensions in the Middle East and traders rushed into safe-haven assets such as bonds and gold.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 475 points, or 1.2%, after dropping more than 500 points at the day’s low. The S&P 500 fell 1.5% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.6%. All three major indexes ended the week lower.
Following last week’s Israeli attack on Damascus, the White House announced Friday that the United States and Israel are on alert for a possible attack by Iran or its proxies.
Oil prices soared on Friday on concerns about escalating tensions in the region caused by the war in Gaza. Brent crude oil futures, the international benchmark for crude oil, settled at $90.45 per barrel, falling after hitting the highest price since October. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures, the US benchmark, rose to $85.66 per barrel.
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsby said in an interview on FOX Business on Friday that rising tensions in the Middle East and its potential impact on oil prices are a “wild card” in two ways.
His concern is how a sharp rise in prices would affect overall headline inflation. Another concern is how the cost of production across the economy will rise, given that gas prices are a key input. That would be a “negative supply shock” and could lead to a “more stagflationary environment” where prices rise but the economy stalls, he said.
“We’re definitely going to have to look at commodity prices,” added Goolsby, who will not vote on interest rate decisions this year.
Investors scrambled to invest Friday as geopolitical concerns and soaring oil prices roiled Wall Street. Gold futures rose to settle at 2,356.20 troy ounces, retreating from the highs hit earlier in the day.
Treasury yields fell as traders sought bonds. iShares Core US Aggregate Bond, an exchange-traded fund that tracks the performance of U.S. investment-grade bonds, rose 0.3%.
CNN’s Fear & Greed Index, which measures seven barometers of market sentiment, ended on a “neutral” value, retreating from its previous close of “greedy.”
Investors also focused on the start of the first quarter earnings season.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon told investors on Friday that while strong economic data provides reassurance, geopolitical turmoil and persistent inflation are the main concerns. I warned you. He also cited the war between Russia and Ukraine as a continuing concern.
“If oil and gas prices get too high, they could be decisive in what happens to the global economy,” Dimon told reporters after the bank’s first-quarter results released Friday morning. There is,” he said.
JPMorgan Chase stock fell 6.5% Friday.
Concerns about geopolitical turmoil come at an already challenging time for investors, with sustained inflation likely prompting the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates later than expected, to the highest level in 23 years. We are struggling with concerns that there is. Some Fed officials have even said that if the central bank’s progress in combating inflation stalls, it is unlikely, but not zero, that it will raise rates.
Elsewhere, new data shows Americans’ attitudes toward the economy have softened over the past few months as inflation persists. The latest consumer survey from the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment remained mostly stable in April, according to a preliminary study released Friday.
Levels may change slightly as the stock price settles after the trading day.
