US stocks close higher as bond yields retreat
[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks finished higher on Thursday following a choppy session as markets weighed worries about US trade tariffs with benign inflation data and a positive Treasury bond auction.
Data showed that US wholesale prices rose 0.1 per cent last month, a modest uptick that shows no major pressures so far from President Donald Trump's trade tariffs.
But Trump escalated his rhetoric about tariffs, telling reporters on Wednesday night he would 'send letters out' with an ultimatum to other trading partners if they don't accept US terms.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.2 per cent at 42,967.62.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.4 per cent to 6,045.26, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.2 per cent to 19,662.49.
Investor unease about Trump's trade rhetoric is 'causing a little bit of selling,' said Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital Management.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Sign Up
Sign Up
But Ablin said stocks were buoyed by a sharp retreat in US Treasury yields after the successful auction of 30-year US Treasury notes.
Among individual companies, Boeing dropped 4.9 per cent after an Air India crash aboard a Boeing 787 Dreamliner in India claimed at least 265 lives.
The calamity raised fresh questions about Boeing after a number of safety problems. GE Aerospace, which manufactures the 787 engines, dropped 2.3 per cent.
Oracle surged 13.3 per cent following an upbeat earnings report. The software giant scored eight percent revenue growth in the last year but predicted the coming year would be 'even better.' AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
35 minutes ago
- CNA
Stocks fall, oil prices jump after Israel attacks Iran
World stock markets fell on Friday, and oil prices surged, as Israel launched military strikes on Iran, sparking inflows into safe havens such as gold and the dollar. An escalation in the Middle East - a major oil-producing region - adds uncertainty to financial markets at a time of heightened pressure on the global economy from U.S. President Donald Trump's unpredictable trade policies. Early on Friday, Trump urged Iran to make a deal over its nuclear programme, saying there was still time for the country to prevent further conflict with Israel. Brent crude oil prices were last up 5.5 per cent at $73.22 per barrel, having jumped as much as 14 per cent during Asian trading hours. They were set for their biggest one-day jump since 2022, when energy costs spiked after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. U.S. oil futures rose 7.3 per cent to around $73. Gold, a safe haven in times of global uncertainty, rose 1.1 per cent to $3,422 per ounce, bringing it close to the record high of $3,500.05 from April. The rush to safety was matched by a dash out of risk assets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9 per cent, the S&P 500 dropped 0.34 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.4 per cent. European shares dropped almost 1 per cent, and in Asia, major bourses in Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong fell over 1 per cent each. "The re-emergence of major conflict in the Middle East should raise geopolitical stress, including sharply higher oil prices," Sameer Samana, head of global equities and real assets at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said in an email. Samana added, though, that the conflict should represent a buying opportunity for long-term investors, including in U.S. large-cap stocks and commodities. Israel said it had struck Iran's nuclear facilities and missile factories and killed a swathe of military commanders in what could be a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon. Trump suggested Iran had brought the attack on itself by resisting U.S. demands in talks to restrict its nuclear programme, and urged it to make a deal, "with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal." Washington said it had no part in the operation, however. The developments mean another major geopolitical risk has become a reality at a time when investors are wrestling with shifts in U.S. economic and trade policies. "The geopolitical escalation adds another layer of uncertainty to already fragile sentiment," said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo, adding that crude oil and safe-haven assets will continue rising if tensions continue to intensify. The Israeli shekel fell almost 1.4 per cent, and long-dated dollar bonds for Israel, Egypt and Pakistan slipped. TWO-WAY PULL FOR BONDS U.S. Treasuries initially benefited from the rush for safer assets, but as the day wore on, investors' focus turned to the inflationary impact of higher oil prices. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields were last up 6.7 basis points at 4.42 per cent, having touched a one-month low of 4.31 per cent. Bond yields move inversely to prices. "This is a flight-to-safety event. But markets are struggling a bit, and in the fixed income space you have an oil-price shock that is inflationary, and so you should see markets expecting an even more hawkish Fed," said James Rossiter, head of global macro strategy at TD Securities. "On the other hand, you have the flight to safety, which should push bond yields lower." Germany's 10-year bond yield touched its lowest level since early March at around 2.42 per cent, before also inching higher. Some traders were attracted to the dollar as a haven, with the dollar index up 0.35 per cent to 98.03, retracing most of Thursday's sizeable decline. The Swiss franc briefly touched its strongest level against the dollar since April 21, before trading 0.12 per cent lower at around 0.811 per dollar. Another safe haven, the Japanese yen, fell 0.34 per cent to 143.95 per dollar, giving up earlier gains of 0.3 per cent. The euro was down 0.2 per cent at $1.15, after rising on Thursday to the highest since October 2021.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
War, trade and Air India crash cast cloud over Paris Air Show
A Dassault Rafale B301 aircraft is seen before the opening of the 55th International Paris Airshow at Le Bourget Airport, near Paris, France, on June 13. PHOTO: REUTERS PARIS - War, tariffs and the Air India crash will cast a shadow over the Paris Air Show as the aerospace industry's biggest annual gathering opens on June 16. More than 2,400 companies from 48 countries are showing off their hardware at the week-long event at Le Bourget airfield on the outskirts of Paris. The sales rivalry between Airbus and Boeing usually drives the headlines as the world's top civilian planemakers announce many of their biggest orders at the air show. But this year's event 'is much more complex', said Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury, who also chairs the board of the Gifas association of French aerospace firms that organises the biennial event. The list of challenges is growing. Russia's war in Ukraine is stretching into its fourth year and there are fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East after Israel launched strikes on Iran on June 13, disrupting commercial flights across the region. The world economy is expected to slow sharply after US President Donald Trump launched his tariff blitz in April. And Boeing is facing a new crisis after the June 12 crash of a 787 Dreamliner operated by Air India in the city of Ahmedabad, which killed at least 265 people on board and on the ground. Boeing chief executive Kelly Ortberg cancelled plans to attend the Paris Air Show to focus on the investigation into the crash. Prior to the tragedy, Boeing had been making progress under a new leadership as the US company sought to restore trust after a series of safety and quality lapses. Boeing and its European rival, Airbus, have also been dealing with delays in delivering aircraft due to supply chain issues. Trade war US President Donald Trump's tariff onslaught has added to the issues facing the industry, which relies on a global supply chain. Mr Trump imposed 10 per cent tariffs on US imports of goods from nearly every country in April, and steeper levies on dozens of countries could kick in in July. The Trump administration is also mulling whether to impose sector-specific tariffs of between 10 and 20 per cent on civil aircraft and parts. The heads of Airbus and Boeing have both called for tariffs to return to zero as had been the case since a 1979 agreement. 'The entire Western aerospace industry considers that would be the best that could happen,' said Mr Faury. More than 2,400 companies from 48 countries are showing off their hardware at the week-long International Paris Airshow. PHOTO: REUTERS In a recent interview with trade journal Aviation Week, Boeing's Mr Ortberg warned that tariffs are an added cost for Boeing, which has been financially weakened in recent years by production problems. We're 'not in a position to pass those (costs) along to our customers,' he told Aviation Week. 'I'm hopeful that, as each of these country-by-country negotiations resolve, those tariffs will go away in the long run.' The tariff problems come as the industry has yet to fully recover from effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on its supply chain. Airbus is having trouble getting enough fuel-efficient engines for its top-selling A320 family of single-aisle jets, holding back the delivery of around 40 aircraft. The main bottleneck is a lack of toilets for widebody aircraft, said Mr Christian Scherer, the head of Airbus's commercial aircraft division. Fighter jets The Paris Air Show is also about showing off the latest military hardware, at a time of conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. European countries are boosting defence budgets in the face of the Ukraine war and fears about Mr Trump's commitment to the NatoO alliance. 'The geostrategic environment has led us to bolster this aspect which was in the background in previous years,' said Gifas head Frederic Parisot. Some 75 companies related to weapons production will be participating at the show, with military jets, helicopters and drones to be displayed. Lockheed Martin's F-35 fifth-generation stealth multirole fighter will be featured, along with the Rafale produced by France's Dassault Aviation. Nine Israeli companies – fewer than in the past – are expected to have displays after a French court rejected a bid by NGOs to ban them over their alleged role in the Gaza conflict. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Nippon Steel exec says firm needs freedom to manage US Steel, newspaper says
Shares of U.S. Steel dipped after a Nippon Steel executive told the Japanese Nikkei newspaper that its planned takeover of the company required "a degree of management freedom" to go ahead, even as sources told Reuters a deal with the U.S. government to greenlight the tie-up was effectively done. "Without a degree of management freedom, it may not be possible to reach an agreement with the U.S. government," the executive said, according to the newspaper, sending shares of the iconic U.S. steelmaker down 4 per cent. The comments appeared to take aim at remarks made by President Donald Trump, who said on Thursday that he had control over U.S. Steel via a "golden share" that gave the American people a 51 per cent stake in the company. But two of the three people said the deal could be finalized as soon as Friday. Nippon Steel, U.S. Steel and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The $14.9 billion bid, first announced by Nippon Steel in December 2023, has faced opposition from the start. Both former President Joe Biden and Trump asserted last year that U.S. Steel should remain U.S.-owned, as they sought to woo voters ahead of the presidential election in Pennsylvania, where the company is headquartered. Biden blocked the deal in January on national security grounds, prompting lawsuits by the companies, which argued the national security review they received was biased. The Biden White House disputed the charge. The steel companies saw a new opportunity in the Trump administration, which began on January 20 and opened a fresh 45-day national security review into the proposed merger in April. But Trump's public comments, ranging from welcoming a simple "investment" in U.S. Steel by the Japanese firm to floating a minority stake for Nippon Steel, spurred confusion. At a rally in Pennsylvania on May 30, Trump lauded an agreement between the companies and said Nippon Steel would make a "great partner" for U.S. Steel. But he later told reporters the deal still lacked his final approval, leaving unresolved whether he would allow Nippon Steel to take ownership. Nippon Steel and the Trump administration asked a U.S. appeals court on June 5 for an eight-day extension of a pause in litigation to give them more time to reach a deal for the Japanese firm. The pause expires Friday, but could be extended. June 18 is the expiration date of the current acquisition contract between Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel, but the firms could agree to postpone that date.
