- US stocks fell on Friday following reports of a possible Iranian attack on Israel.
- Fears of escalating tensions in the Middle East drove up oil prices and lowered interest rates.
- Investors also digested the first batch of first-quarter earnings and were unimpressed.
U.S. stocks sold off on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling nearly 500 points amid fears of a possible Iranian attack on Israel.
US intelligence reports indicated thata possible attack on Israel by Iran or its proxies was imminent in the coming days. The reports, which were confirmed by a US official, specified that a possible drone attack against Israel could "possibly target Israeli soil" rather than Israeli interests outside the country.
Such an attack would come shortly after Israel launched a missile attack that killed seven Iranian soldiers in Syria.
Fears of a The escalation of tensions in the Middle East drove up oil prices. and bond yields fall.
Investors also digested the first batch of first-quarter earnings results and were unimpressed. Megabanks JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Citigroup reported better-than-expected results but saw significant sell-offs in their stocks, with JPMorgan falling more than 6%.
Here is where the US indices were at the 4:00 pm close on Friday:
This is what happened today:
In commodities, bonds and cryptocurrencies:
- West Texas Intermediate Crude oil rose 0.49% to $85.44 a barrel. Brent CrudeThe international benchmark index rose 0.48% to $90.17 per barrel.
- Gold fell 0.57% to $2,359.40 an ounce.
- The 10-year Treasury yield fell 6 basis points to 4.52%.
- bitcoin decreased 4.50% to $66,874.
