investingLive European markets wrap: Oil holds higher as US-Iran tensions stay in focus
Headlines:
- US-Iran tensions continue to dominate proceedings in the new week
- Iran reaffirms it won’t keep its end of the deal so long as the US doesn’t as well
- Iran foreign ministry says mediators are still continuing efforts to remedy the situation
- Oil prices consolidate around recent highs amid renewed US-Iran attacks as traffic in the Strait of Hormuz comes to a halt
- Fed’s Williams will support rate hikes if monthly core inflation runs above 0.2% on average
- Japan chief cabinet secretary reaffirms that GPIF is to tweak basic portfolio as needed
Markets:
- WTI crude up 3.5% to $73.90
- European stocks a little higher; S&P 500 futures down 0.3%
- NZD leads, JPY lags on the day
- US 10-year yields up 1 bps to 4.579%
- Gold down 1.4% to $4,063
- Bitcoin down 2% to $62,863
It was a quieter session in terms of headlines as markets are continuing to digest US-Iran developments for the most part.
While the main focus this week turns towards the US CPI report, the early stages will still center around the situation in the Middle East. And for now, things are still looking rather tense.
The US and Iran are still not able to sit down for talks, all the while the Strait of Hormuz remains closed and both sides are exchanging strikes. That is helping to keep oil prices underpinned with WTI crude up 3.5% to $73.90.
There is more of a risk retreat in general but the flight to safety/cash i.e. the dollar ebbed slightly this morning. EUR/USD nudged up from 1.1400 to 1.1445 before keeping higher by 0.1% to 1.1430 currently. Meanwhile, GBP/USD also pared early losses from 1.3370 to 1.3410 before settling little changed at 1.3390 now.
USD/JPY remains one of the more interesting ones amid a mix of GPIF headlines, with the currency pair pulling back from 162.30 earlier to 162.10 on the day.
In other markets, European stocks are keeping calmer while tech shares are leading declines in US pre-market. S&P 500 futures are down 0.3% with Nasdaq futures down 0.9% currently, although off earlier lows.
Besides that, 10-year Treasury yields continue to flirt with the June highs near 3.58% with precious metals staying in retreat as gold is down 1.4% to $4,063 to start the week.
This article was written by fl9bde53b91e184082bbe3aa3acaaf2cb0 at investinglive.com.