new york: Wall Street stocks fell on Friday despite strong bank earnings as oil and gold prices soared amid concerns about possible escalation of conflict in the Middle East.
After spending the entire session in the red, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.2 percent, or 475 points, to end at 37,983.24.
“Increased geopolitical uncertainty ahead of the weekend contributed to today’s decline,” Briefing.com said.
Market participants cited concerns that Iran could launch an imminent attack on Israel in retaliation for the Damascus attack, a possibility also raised by President Joe Biden, who has urged Iran to oppose the move. did.
Oil prices rose more than 2% at the peak of trading and have since fallen slightly.
Gold also benefited from its status as a haven investment, topping the $2,400 per ounce level.
Investors’ attention will focus on the start of corporate earnings season on Friday after economic data released earlier this week all but eliminated the possibility that the Federal Reserve would start cutting interest rates in June. is what happened.
Data showing a strong U.S. economy raised expectations that companies would report strong earnings, and stock markets began recalibrating expectations for interest rate cuts.
At the beginning of the year, markets were pricing in six rate cuts by the Fed by 2024, but they now expect only two.
JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup all reported better-than-expected results in the first quarter. But JPMorgan Chase’s stock, which has risen significantly this year, fell 6.5%, while the other two banks’ stocks fell less significantly.
Paris and Frankfurt edged lower, while London shares surged on data showing the UK economy grew for the second month in a row in February, pointing to a recovery after falling into a shallow recession late last year. Expectations have further increased.
Dark expectations for US interest rate cuts continued to support the dollar, which rose further above 153 yen, a 34-year high, as Japanese officials said they were prepared to intervene in the market to support their currency. It attracted a lot of attention.
~Main figures around 2030GMT~
New York – Dow: down 1.2% to 37,983.24 (close)
New York – S&P 500: down 1.5% to 5,123.41 (close)
New York-Nasdaq Composite: down 1.6% to 16,175.09 (close price)
London – FTSE 100: up 0.9% to 7,995.58 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: down 0.2% to 8,010.32 (close price)
Frankfurt – DAX: 0.1% lower at 17,930.32 (closing price)
Euro STOXX 50: 0.2% lower at 4,955.01 (close price)
Tokyo-Nikkei 225: up 0.2% to 39,523.55 (closing price)
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index: 2.2% lower at 16,721.69 (closing price)
Shanghai – Overall: down 0.5% to 3,019.47 (close price)
Dollar/JPY: down to 153.24 yen from Thursday’s 153.27 yen
EUR/USD: down from $1.0726 to $1.0645
GBP/USD: down from $1.2553 to $1.2449
EUR/GBP: up from 85.44p to 85.48p
Brent crude: up 0.8% to $90.45 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: up 0.8% to $85.66 per barrel
