The Pak Banker

Stocks in US surge yet signs of dip remain

- NEW YORK -REUTERS

After a last week’s plunge, the stocks in the US witnessed a surge with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 157 point or 0.4% and the S&P 500 also climbing 0.4%, reported CNBC Monday.

According to the report, the Nasdaq also saw a surge of 0.2%, amid the data suggesting that there may not be escalation in the geopolitic­al conflicts around the world, focusing largely on the Middle East.

The shares of Goldman Sachs were also traded 4% higher with JPMorgan gaining 2% in today’s exchange of equities, that were lost last week. A fresh economic data also forced the traders to help equities climbing high.

The outlet reported: “Retail sales increased 0.7% for the month of March, providing the latest indication that consumptio­n remains strong in spite of inflationa­ry pressures.”

However, as the market was on the rise, the Gold futures plunged over 1% to $2,346.00 an ounce, before the yellow metal hit a new record last week. The bullion is currently 15% up this year as people are investing more in gold to hedge against inflation and geopolitic­al tensions.

The prices of Oil in the market also dipped Monday, bringing losses to those who earned from last week’s gains. As the Israel thwarted Iranian missiles and drones attack, investors appeared positive.

"Historical­ly, geopolitic­al shocks cause short-term volatility, not long-term market declines," Emily Bowersock Hill, CEO of Bowersock Capital Partners was quoted as saying by the outlet.

"In this current environmen­t, however, the risk of an extended period of volatility is higher, given the inflationa­ry oil price shocks that may emanate from the heightened tensions in the Middle East."

As the attack was thwarted, the fears of Israeli retaliatio­n still haunt the market.

Wall Street stocks bounced early Monday following solid US retail sales data as markets embraced hopes that the world will avert a sharp escalation of conflict between Iran and Israel.

US retail sales picked up by 0.7 percent in March to $709.6 billion, topping estimates and defying prediction­s of weaker consumer demand. About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.9 percent at 38,315.44.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.8 percent to 5,165.84, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.6 percent to 16,278.90. Wall Street Week Ahead: Surging US energy shares reflect robust growth, inflation worries

Stocks fell sharply on Friday amid fears of retaliatio­n by Iran over an earlier strike in Syria blamed on Israel.

Iran late on Saturday unleashed more than 300 missiles and attack drones, but the offensive was mostly repelled by air defenses.

“It kind of seems this whole big round of tensions between Israel and Iran is not gonna lead to a bigger warfare conflict,” said LBBW’s Karl Haeling. Among individual companies, Goldman Sachs jumped 5.1 percent after reporting better-than-expected profits on a strong performanc­e across most businesses.

Trump Media & Technology Group, the social media platform associated with Donald Trump, slumped 12.3 percent as the former president arrived at a New York courthouse for an historic criminal trial.

Trump is accused of falsifying business records in a scheme to cover up an alleged sexual encounter with adult film actress Stormy Daniels to shield his 2016 election campaign from a last-minute upheaval.

The benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq gained on Thursday after softer-than-anticipate­d producer prices data soothed investor jitters about sticky inflation, keeping hopes of rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve this year alive.

A Labor Department report showed the Producer Price Index(PPI) for final demand rose 0.2% in March, against forecasts of a 0.3% increase, according to economists polled by Reuters. Annually, it rose to 2.1%, versus an estimate of 2.2%.

“The producer prices came in a little bit better than expected and it was really a surprise, given the rise that we’ve seen in commodity prices and a lot of input prices,” said Paul Nolte, senior wealth advisor and market strategist for Murphy & Sylvest.

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