Friday, June 13, 2025
We had thought, as of around mid-day yesterday, that all the major news items for the week had already passed. After all, both Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) reports for May had already been released, marking the state of inflation in the U.S. economy. Also Weekly Jobless Claims and the small-business survey from NFIB came out.
Israel Attacks Iran, Upending Global Markets
But all of it pales in comparison to Israel’s military strike on Iran yesterday. The unprecedented event has immediately sent up oil and gold prices on the global market. Both
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and
Brent crude prices are up over +7% this morning, pushing both levels over $70 per barrel. Just 5 weeks ago, oil was at 4-year lows: $57 per barrel. This is shaping up to be the largest one-day gain in oil prices for at least 5 years.
Israel has reportedly attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities, located at various regions throughout the Mid-Eastern country. But analysts have long theorized that retaliation could come in terms of shutting down oil ports in the region, making availability scare and driving up the price per barrel. Those spot prices have already gotten a head start; we hadn’t seen $70 oil since April 2nd, literally the day the U.S. slapped massive reciprocal tariffs on virtually all of its trade partners.
Gold prices have surged in a similar manner — long seen as a hedge against global economic turmoil. After notching all-time highs two months ago to the day, at $3425 per ounce, gold prices have launched into another orbit: $3450 at this hour, up +1.4% so far today. For some context, these levels are more than double where we were at October 2022 lows of $1644 per ounce.
Bond yields are up also, but in a much more measured fashion. In fact, they’re coming off relatively low levels in the past few days, and are now +4.36% on the 10-year, +3.93% on the 2-year and +4.86% on the 30-year. These yields have been policing U.S. market exuberance so far in 2025; it remains to be seen if it will also have an impact on current developments.
Both the Dow and S&P 500 are down -1% at this hour. The Nasdaq, which has again led market indexes over the past month, is down -1.3% currently. The small-cap Russell 2000 remains the laggard, as it has since early February, is down -1.4% so far this morning.
What to Expect from the Market Today
After the market opens, a preliminary June
Consumer Sentiment report is due, expected to come in a couple points higher month over month, to 54.0. But to be honest, the market will rest heavily on this morning’s headlines — including what happens next, in terms of Iran’s retaliation, etc. — and whether or not indexes can notch their third-straight week higher.
Questions or comments about this article and/or author? Click here>>
Image: Bigstock
Israel Attacks on Iran Send Markets into the Red
Friday, June 13, 2025
We had thought, as of around mid-day yesterday, that all the major news items for the week had already passed. After all, both Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) reports for May had already been released, marking the state of inflation in the U.S. economy. Also Weekly Jobless Claims and the small-business survey from NFIB came out.
Israel Attacks Iran, Upending Global Markets
But all of it pales in comparison to Israel’s military strike on Iran yesterday. The unprecedented event has immediately sent up oil and gold prices on the global market. Both West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude prices are up over +7% this morning, pushing both levels over $70 per barrel. Just 5 weeks ago, oil was at 4-year lows: $57 per barrel. This is shaping up to be the largest one-day gain in oil prices for at least 5 years.
Israel has reportedly attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities, located at various regions throughout the Mid-Eastern country. But analysts have long theorized that retaliation could come in terms of shutting down oil ports in the region, making availability scare and driving up the price per barrel. Those spot prices have already gotten a head start; we hadn’t seen $70 oil since April 2nd, literally the day the U.S. slapped massive reciprocal tariffs on virtually all of its trade partners.
Gold prices have surged in a similar manner — long seen as a hedge against global economic turmoil. After notching all-time highs two months ago to the day, at $3425 per ounce, gold prices have launched into another orbit: $3450 at this hour, up +1.4% so far today. For some context, these levels are more than double where we were at October 2022 lows of $1644 per ounce.
Bond yields are up also, but in a much more measured fashion. In fact, they’re coming off relatively low levels in the past few days, and are now +4.36% on the 10-year, +3.93% on the 2-year and +4.86% on the 30-year. These yields have been policing U.S. market exuberance so far in 2025; it remains to be seen if it will also have an impact on current developments.
Both the Dow and S&P 500 are down -1% at this hour. The Nasdaq, which has again led market indexes over the past month, is down -1.3% currently. The small-cap Russell 2000 remains the laggard, as it has since early February, is down -1.4% so far this morning.
What to Expect from the Market Today
After the market opens, a preliminary June Consumer Sentiment report is due, expected to come in a couple points higher month over month, to 54.0. But to be honest, the market will rest heavily on this morning’s headlines — including what happens next, in terms of Iran’s retaliation, etc. — and whether or not indexes can notch their third-straight week higher.
Questions or comments about this article and/or author? Click here>>