Oct. 10, 2023
Stocks in the United States rose for the third straight day as the market continued to assess the effect of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Bond yields fell as investors desired the safety of U.S. Treasurys, and these falling yields helped to bolster the stock market. Today was the first day that Treasurys have been traded since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict, as the bond market was closed on Monday.
The Dow Jones rose 134.65 points (0.4%) to 33,739.30. The S&P 500 gained 22.58 points (0.5%), reaching 4,358.24. The Nasdaq climbed 78.61 points (0.6%), ending the day at 13,562.84.
The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note fell 0.149 points to 4.655%, and the two-year note fell 0.148 points to 4.961%. The yield on a Treasury note is inversely related to its price, so a falling yield implies a rising price for it. Stocks have been under pressure since July, as continuously rising yields have attracted investors to Treasurys instead of stocks, but today’s pullback in yields was seen as a welcome relief by stock market bulls.
Oil prices declined as war-related fears began to wane. West Texas Intermediate crude fell by $0.59 per barrel to $85.79, while Brent crude declined by $0.03 to $87.62. Over the weekend, some traders had begun to fear renewed sanctions against Iran, which could reduce supply and drive up prices. But Iran denied involvement on Monday, which gradually began to reduce these expectations.
Gold prices reduced $0.79 per troy ounce, falling to $1,860.48. Despite an early dip, a rally emerged around 10:30 am Eastern Time, enabling gold to recover a significant portion of its earlier losses.
The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.29% to 105.77. The euro gained 0.3852%, ending up at 1.0606. The Japanese yen fell 0.1%, causing the number of yen needed to buy a dollar to rise to 148.6660.
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