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Global equities rise as oil prices dip, markets downplay Iran conflict

Global equity markets advanced on Monday even as oil prices fell but still traded near multi-month highs as markets shrugged off the effects of the US attacks on Iranian nuclear sites in support of an Israeli military campaign. Wall Street's main indexes were all trading higher, with 9 out of 11 of the benchmark S&P 500 subsectors advancing. Energy equities were the biggest losers on the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.17 per cent to 42,279.55, the S&P 500 rose 0.48 per cent to 5,996.40 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.61 per cent to 19,565.74. European shares were down 0.2 per cent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.66 per cent overnight. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 0.28 per cent. Israel bombed Evin prison in northern Tehran on Monday, a potent symbol of Iran's governing system, and Revolutionary Guard command centers responsible for internal security in the Tehran area. Iran repeated earlier threats to retaliate against the United States. Its parliament approved the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping lane in the global oil trade. "The market being higher signals a risk-on sentiment, which is somewhat surprising considering that we had a series of very volatile events over the weekend with US participation in the (Iran) bombing efforts with Israel," said Andrew Wells, chief investment officer at SanJac Alpha in Houston. "The lesson we take from this is that these headline events are having less and less effect on the market since tariffs went on - the so-called Liberation Day - which was the big volatile event." Brent crude futures fell 0.83 per cent to $76.37 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.88 per cent to $73.14. The Brent and WTI crude benchmarks touched five-month highs of $81.40 and $78.40, respectively. The Strait of Hormuz is only about 33 km (21 miles) wide at its narrowest point and around a quarter of global oil trade and 20 per cent of liquefied natural gas supplies pass through it. Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman said on Monday the time to cut interest rates appeared imminent as she was increasingly worried about labor market risks and was less concerned that high import taxes would cause an ongoing inflation problem. The dollar strengthened 0.41 per cent to 146.68 against the Japanese yen and weakened 0.39 per cent to 0.814 against the Swiss franc. The euro was up 0.09 per cent at $1.1532, rebounding from earlier losses following Bowman's comments. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.19 per cent. Gold prices fell. Spot gold rose 0.56 per cent to $3,387.00 an ounce. US gold futures rose 0.5 per cent to $3,385.10 an ounce.