Treasury yields declined, giving stock market bulls new momentum.
October 10, 2023
Stocks in the US rose for the third straight day as the market continues to assess the effect of the Israeli-Hamas conflict. Bond yields fell as investors desired the safety of US Treasuries, and these falling yields helped to bolster the stock market. Today was the first day that Treasuries have been traded since the start of the Israeli-Hamas conflict, as the bond market was closed on Monday.
The Dow rose 134.65 points (0.4%), to 33,739.30. The S&P 500 gained 22.58 points (0.5%), reaching 4,358.24. The Nasdaq climbed 78.61 points (0.6%), ending the day at 13,562.84.
The yield on the US 10 Year Treasury Note fell 0.149 points, to 4.655%, and the 2-year note fell 0.148 points, to 4.961%. The yield on a Treasury Note is inversely related to its price, so a falling yield implies a rising price for it. Stocks have been under pressure since July, as continuously rising yields have attracted investors to Treasuries instead of stocks, but today’s pullback in yields was seen as a welcome relief by stock market bulls.
Oil prices declined as war-related fears began to wane. West Texas Intermediate crude fell by $0.59 per barrel, to $85.79, while Brent crude declined by $0.03, to $87.62. Over the weekend, some traders had begun to fear renewed sanctions against Iran, which could reduce supply and drive up prices. But Iran denied involvement on Monday, which gradually began to reduce these expectations.
Gold prices saw a reduction of $0.79 per Troy Ounce, falling to $1,860.48. Despite an early dip, a rally emerged around 10:30 am ET, enabling gold to recover a significant portion of its earlier losses.
The US Dollar Index rose 0.29%, to 105.77. The euro gained 0.3852%, ending up at 1.0606. The yen fell 0.1%, causing the number of yen needed to buy a dollar to rise to 148.6660.
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