Thanks to a rally on Friday, US blue chips stocks recorded a 4th consecutive weekly gain despite growing tensions in the Middle East and the dockworkers’ strike at Eastern seaports. Escalating Middle East tensions sent oil prices to their highest level in about a month, benefiting energy shares. The S&P 500 pulled back sharply (-1.38%) on Tuesday, as Iran fired nearly 200 missiles directly at Israel. While many of the missiles were intercepted, there were several hits in the southern and central parts of the country and threats of “more devastating attacks” if Israel responded. Markets stabilized on Wednesday, however, perhaps because worst-case scenarios failed to materialize. On Friday, the US Labor Department announced that employers had added 254,000 jobs in September, nearly twice the consensus estimates and the most since March. August’s gain was also revised higher. The household survey also brought better-than-expected news, with the unemployment rate unexpectedly ticking lower to 4.1%. The jobs report pushed the Dow Jones 300 points higher to a new all-time high while the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield reached its highest intraday level (3.98%) since August 8. Outside the US, the STOXX Europe 600 Index ended 1.80% lower over the week while the Nikkei declined 3% following sharp losses on Monday. Chinese stocks surged in a holiday-shortened week: the blue chip CSI 300 Index rose 8.48% while the Hang Seng Index climbed 10.2%. Gold ended the week marginally lower while the dollar surged to its highest close since mid-August.
Have a great week-end
Charles for the team