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Market Wrap: Stocks, Bonds, Commodities |
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On Friday, U.S. stocks encountered another round of sell-off, with the S&P 500 falling 100 points (-1.51%) to 6,506, and the Nasdaq 100 down 457 points (-1.88%) to 23,898.
The Dow Jones dropped 443 points (-0.96%) to 45,577.
On a weekly basis, the major stock indexes posted a four-week losing streak.
Market sentiment was heavily weighed on by concerns that, the prolonged Iran war would keep boosting oil prices and inflation, lowering chances of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates.
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield bounced 13.5 basis points to 4.384%, the highest level since August 2025.
On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to destroy Iran’s power plants if Iran did not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. In return, Iran threatened to strike the energy and water systems of its neighbours in the Gulf.
U.S. WTI crude-oil futures settled 2.68 dollars (+2.80%) at 98.23 dollars a barrel on Friday, and struck 100 dollars a barrel in early Asian hours on Monday.
All tech giants lost ground on Friday, with Nvidia (NVDA) falling 3.28%, Tesla (TSLA) down 3.24%, Meta (META) down 2.15%, Alphabet (GOOGL) down 2.00%, and Microsoft (MSFT) down 1.84%.
Micron Technology (MU) fell a further 4.81%.
Data-storage stocks, which outperformed the market earlier in the week, also retreated, with Sandisk (SNDK) losing 8.08%, Western Digital (WDC) down 7.52%, and Seagate Technology (STX) down 5.38%.
Super Micro Computer (SMCI) plummeted 33.32%. A co-founder of the server company was arrested by U.S. authorities on charges of smuggling Nvidia chips to China.
European stocks dropped sharply for a second straight session, with the DAX 40 sliding 2.01%, the CAC 40 down 1.82%, and the FTSE 100 down 1.44%.
Gold marked the third consecutive session of over-3% loss on Friday, tumbling 158 dollars (-3.41%) to 4,491 dollars an ounce.
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The U.S. dollar regained some strength on Friday, with the dollar index climbing to 99.56.
Rallying oil prices are driving expectations of higher inflation, and investors become less certain about the Fed cutting interest rates soon.
EUR/USD fell 25 pips to 1.1563. Germany’s producer prices fell 3.3% year on year in February after dropping 3.0% in January.
USD/JPY rose 158 pips (+1.00%) to 159.30.
GBP/USD declined 96 pips to 1.3334, and AUD/USD dropped 71 pips (-1.00%) to 0.7015.
USD/CHF was little changed at 0.7878, while USD/CAD fell 20 pips to 1.3718.
Gold marked the third consecutive session of over-3% loss on Friday, tumbling 158 dollars (-3.41%) to 4,491 dollars an ounce.
Over the weekend, Bitcoin crossed below the key level of 70,000 dollars.
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In Asian trading hours, EUR/USD dropped to 1.1546 and GBP/USD fell to 1.3318.
Meanwhile, USD/JPY advanced to 159.54.
Gold extended its decline to 4,361 dollars, its lowest level since early January.
Bitcoin remained subdued at 68,188 dollars.
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In the U.S., Chicago Fed manufacturing index is expected to climb to 0.27 in February.
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