U.S. stocks end higher despite higher oil prices, Israel-Gaza war
U.S. stocks booked back-to-back gains on Monday, despite rising...
U.S. stocks booked back-to-back gains on Monday, despite rising oil prices and a deadly weekend assault on Israeli by Hamas that left hundreds dead. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.59% rose about 197 points, or 0.6%, ending near 33,604, shaking off earlier weakness, while the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.63% advanced 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.39% gained 0.4%, according to preliminary FactSet data. U.S. benchmark oil prices CL00, +4.34% rose 4.3% to $86.38 a barrel as traders gauged potential implications of the Israel-Gaza war on crude supplies from the Middle East. Investors also flocked to haven assets, including gold GC00, +1.62% and the U.S. dollar DXY, 0.03%, while cash trading in the $25 trillion Treasury market was closed for the Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day holiday. Israel on Monday sealed off the Gaza Strip from food, fuel and other supplies as the conflict between Israel and Hamas intensified, according to the Associated Press.
Israel-Hamas Conflict: Death toll reaches 1,400, including 9 U.S. citizens
The Israeli military said Monday it has retaken control of...
The Israeli military said Monday it has retaken control of all communities around Gaza since Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel early Saturday.
• More than 900 Israeli civilians, including over 250 people attending a music festival, and members of the military were killed by the Palestinian militant group, with another 2,150 wounded, as confirmed by Israeli officials Monday.
• Almost 600 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip from Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes, according to the enclave's Health Ministry.
The energy sector is off to a higher start, supported by a rally in crude oil contracts as conflict in Israel ratchets up the geopolitical risk premium.Futures tied to the major equity indices are lower amid rising geopolitical tensions which is putting pressure on a market dealing with surging inflation and interest rates.
WTI and Brent crude oil futures are kicking off the week sharply higher, recovering some of last week’s losses fueled by this weekend’s attack by Hamas on Israeli towns. Analysts said the situation now brings discussion around whether or not other nations including Saudi Arabia and Iran will be drawn into the conflict. According to Reuters, global hedge fund managers were selling U.S. stocks sensitive to commodities at an accelerated pace in the week ending October 6, according to a Goldman Sachs note to clients, just before the price of oil jumped this morning. Hedge funds had, as of Friday, ramped up selling to the fastest pace since early June in shares of U.S. companies that manufacture chemicals, building materials, and paper products, said the note from Goldman Sachs' prime brokerage.
Natural gas futures are extending last week’s gains amid today’s rally in crude oil and as preliminary estimates for the EIA weekly storage data had a build of +83 to +93 Bcf vs 5-yr avg of +93 Bcf.
Roughly 2,400 people have died, and many more are trapped in...
Roughly 2,400 people have died, and many more are trapped in western Afghanistan after a pair of 6.3 magnitude earthquakes rocked Asia's poorest nation Sunday. The city of Herat, the nation's third-largest with over 600,000 residents, was the worst affected, with the quake's epicenter just 25 miles northwest of the provincial hub. READ MORE
Exxon’s shale boss in Texas jail on sexual assault charge
Exxon Mobil Corp.’s head of shale remained in a Texas jail...
Exxon Mobil Corp.’s head of shale remained in a Texas jail Sunday after he was arrested for sexual assault at a hotel near Houston last week, police said.
David Scott, 49, a senior vice president of Exxon’s upstream shale business, was arrested early Thursday at a La Quinta Inn & Suites hotel in Magnolia, Texas, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said, just north of company headquarters.
Scott faces a second-degree felony assault charge and posted a $30,000 bond, according to jail records. Local authorities said Scott remained behind bars Sunday because he has not yet surrendered his Australian passport to probation officers.
Convictions on such felonies in Texas carry a minimum of two years and up to 20 years in prison.
