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

October 9, 2023No Comments

October 9, 2023

US markets demonstrated resilience on Monday, initially succumbing to concerns about the escalating conflict between Israel and Gaza, but later recovering to close in the green. The Dow closed up 0.5%, at 33,604.65 points. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 4,335.66. The tech-heavy Nasdaq hit 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 and then up.

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

Over the weekend, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on Israel. The new outbreak of war caused some traders to fear that volatility would shake the market, causing bearish sentiment to take hold from the start. However, these fears were largely allayed throughout the day. Defense-related companies rose: Lockheed Martin gained 8.5% and Northrop Grumman Corp gained 11%. Oil producers also gained thanks to the belief that high oil prices are coming.

Gold was boosted by the turmoil and rose $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 oil rose to $88.05, a gain of 4.09% on the day. GasBuddy published a report claiming that US gas prices have decreased by $0.11 per gallon, but this was largely overlooked and failed to stop the war-driven oil rally.

The US Dollar Index rose 0.03% to 106.08. In parallel with the rise of the dollar, the euro fell 0.2220%, to 1.0566. The yen gained 0.5138%, raising the number of yen needed to buy one dollar to 148.5070. The yen has been trading sideways since September 25, when the Bank of Japan declared it would intervene if the currency fell much further. Before that date, it had lost 13% of its value since the beginning of the year.

Information for this story came from CNBC, OilPrice, Yahoo Finance, MSN Money and Marketwatch.

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