U.S. stocks took a nosedive on Friday, a spectacle as predictable as a Waughian cocktail party, as the latest round of saber-rattling between Israel and Iran sent oil prices into a tizzy and investors scurrying for the exits like debutantes at a scandalous soiree.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, that grand old barometer of American prosperity, slumped by 1.79%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, not to be outdone, lost 1.13% and 1.30% respectively. It was a day of losses, but also of gains—oil and defense stocks, ever the opportunists, saw their shares climb. Brent crude, the black gold of the modern age, surged more than 7%, with a brief but thrilling 14% spike during Asia trading hours, while WTI crude flirted with the $74 mark.
ExxonMobil, the oil giant, saw its shares rise by a modest 2%, and defense firms Lockheed Martin and RTX, ever ready for a good war, gained about 3% each. Gold, the metal of choice for the truly paranoid, rose 1.4% to $3,432 an ounce, tantalizingly close to its April record.
The sell-off, a rather unseemly affair, put an abrupt end to what had been shaping up to be a rather pleasant week for equities. Global markets, ever the followers of fashion, mirrored the U.S. downturn, with European and Asian equities posting losses of more than 1%. U.S. Treasury yields, those barometers of national solvency, rose, with the 10-year note climbing 7.9 basis points to 4.436%, reversing earlier declines on safe-haven demand. The dollar, that most reliable of currencies, also rebounded, gaining 0.5%.
President Trump, never one to miss a chance to weigh in, urged Iran to return to the negotiating table, warning of further consequences and citing a missed 60-day deadline. Iran, with a flair for the dramatic, promptly canceled planned negotiations with the U.S., a move that would have made even the most hardened of Waugh’s characters pause.
Economically, the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index, a measure of the nation’s collective mood, rose sharply to 60.5 in June, topping forecasts and suggesting that consumers, despite the geopolitical turmoil, remain as resilient as a British stiff upper lip.
Investors, now faced with the specter of renewed inflation risks from rising oil prices and the ever-present uncertainty around future Federal Reserve actions, can only hope that the markets will find a way to weather the storm, much like a well-bred Englishman at a garden party in the rain. 🌦️💼
Read More
- Forza Horizon 5 Update Available Now, Includes Several PS5-Specific Fixes
- Gold Rate Forecast
- ‘The budget card to beat right now’ — Radeon RX 9060 XT reviews are in, and it looks like a win for AMD
- Masters Toronto 2025: Everything You Need to Know
- We Loved Both of These Classic Sci-Fi Films (But They’re Pretty Much the Same Movie)
- Valorant Champions 2025: Paris Set to Host Esports’ Premier Event Across Two Iconic Venues
- Karate Kid: Legends Hits Important Global Box Office Milestone, Showing Promise Despite 59% RT Score
- Eddie Murphy Reveals the Role That Defines His Hollywood Career
- Discover the New Psion Subclasses in D&D’s Latest Unearthed Arcana!
- Street Fighter 6 Game-Key Card on Switch 2 is Considered to be a Digital Copy by Capcom
2025-06-13 23:24