US Stocks Overcome Early Decline Amid Israeli-Gaza Tensions to Close Higher

October 9, 2023

US markets demonstrated resilience on Monday, initially succumbing to concerns over the escalating Israeli-Gaza conflict, but rebounding later to close in the green. The Dow closed up 0.5%, at 33,604.65. The S&P 500 rose by 0.6%, reaching 4,335.66. The tech-heavy Nasdaq went to 13,484.24, a gain of 0.4%. The S&P was down slightly at 10:50 a.m. ET, having fallen from 4281.91 to 4285.73, a loss of 3.852 points, but this loss was erased by the end of the day. The other two indices made similar moves down, then up.

One-day chart for the S&P 500. Source: MSN Money.

Over the weekend, Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack against Israel. The new outbreak of war caused some traders to fear volatility will rock the market, causing a bearish sentiment to take hold early on. However, these fears were largely shrugged off over the course of the day. Defense-related companies surged, with Lockheed Martin gaining 8.5% and Northrop Grumman Corp gaining 11%. Oil producers also gained thanks to a belief that high oil prices are coming.

Gold was buoyed by the turmoil, rising $13.59 (0.74%), to $1,861.53.

*One-day gold chart, 10-9-2023. Source: GoldPrice, TradingView*

Oil also rose today, with West Texas Intermediate hitting $86.29, a gain of 4.24% on the day. Brent crude rose to $88.05, a gain of 4.09% on the day. GasBuddy issued a report stating that US gasoline prices have declined by $0.11 per gallon, but this was mostly overlooked and failed to stop the war-driven oil rally.

The US Dollar Index rose by 0.03%, to 106.08. In tandem 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 a dollar to 148.5070. The yen has been trading sideways since September 25, when the Bank of Japan stated that it would intervene if the currency fell much further. Prior to that date, it had lost 13% of its value since the start of the year.

Information for this news item was sourced from CNBC, OilPrice, Yahoo Finance, MSN Money, and Marketwatch.

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