On Monday, after U.S. President Trump announced that he would reinstate the naval blockade against Iran and threatened to strike Iran’s underground nuclear facilities, the U.S. Dollar Index rose sharply during the U.S. trading session, ultimately closing up 0.31% at 101.28;The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield closed at 4.620%, while the 2-year U.S. Treasury yield, which is sensitive to the Fed’s policy rate, closed at 4.296%.
As the escalating conflict in the Middle East intensified market concerns about a resurgence in inflation and the possibility of the Federal Reserve maintaining “higher for longer” interest rates, spot gold continued its downward trend,falling more than $100 during the session and briefly dipping below the $4,000 mark before finally closing down 2.85% at $4,001.98 per ounce; spot silver ultimately closed down 3.66% at $57.66 per ounce.
International oil prices surged by nearly 9% on Monday.WTI crude began its rally before the U.S. trading session and accelerated during the session, ultimately closing up 8.93% at $77.80 per barrel; Brent crude closed up 9.01% at $82.78 per barrel.
The three major U.S. stock indices closed lower: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.26%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.79%, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.55%. Micron Technology (MU.O) fell 4.3%, and Nvidia (NVDA.O) dropped 3.5%.Intel (INTC.O) fell 6%, and SanDisk (SNDK.O) plummeted more than 12%. The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index closed down 0.14%, while NetEase (NTES.O) and JD.com (JD.O) both rose more than 2%.