MSCI's global equities index fell with Treasury yields on Tuesday as investors shied away from riskier assets while oil futures rallied on concerns about supply after Iran launched missiles at Israel.
However Wall Street stocks ended above their session lows and Treasuries yields also pared declines on hopes that further escalation of the Middle East conflict was not imminent.
The U.S. dollar index rose and gold, traditionally a safe haven, rose during the session to more than 1% as investors looked for less risky places to put their money. Oil prices rallied as the escalating violence raised concerns about supply.
U.S. crude settle up 2.44% at $69.83 per barrel and Brent settled at $73.56 per barrel, up 2.59% on the day. Earlier in the day, both crude benchmarks rose more than 5%.
Market Snapshot
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 173.18 points, or 0.41%, to 42,156.97, the S&P 500 fell 53.73 points, or 0.93%, to 5,708.75 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 278.81 points, or 1.53%, to 17,910.36.
Market Movers
Oil company Houston American rose 21% and defense company Northrop Grumman jumped 3% as Iran attacked Israel, escalating the conflict in the Middle East.
FedEx was down 1.5% and United Parcel Service fell 2.3%. Both stocks had risen Monday in anticipation of the port strike. Shares of the international airfreight capacity providers were seen benefiting from the walkout of thousands of dockworkers on the East and Gulf coasts after midnight Monday as the contract with port employers expired.
Boeing was up 1.4%. Bloomberg reported the plane maker has been considering raising at least $10 billion by issuing new stock as it works to replenish cash reserves amid a strike.
CVS Health fell 2.1%. The Wall Street Journal reported the company was conducting a strategic review of options, including a possible breakup of the healthcare giant. The Journal, citing people with knowledge of the matter, said the CVS board has retained bankers to facilitate the review, which has been ongoing for weeks. The Journal reported over the weekend that Glenview Capital Management would be meeting with top executives at CVS to exchange ideas on how to make improvements at the company.
SUPER MICRO COMPUTER INC began trading Tuesday on a post-split basis. A 10-for-1 stock split went into effect after the stock market closed Monday. Super Micro shares were down 2.6% on Tuesday. The stock closed Monday before the stock split at $416.40.
U.S.-listed shares of XPeng Inc. rose 5.5% after the Chinese electric-vehicle maker delivered 21,352 Smart EVs in September, up 39% from a year earlier and a new monthly record. Li Auto was up 12% after it delivered 53,709 vehicles in September, up 49% from a year earlier. NIO Inc. delivered 21,181 vehicles in September, an increase of 35% from the prior year. Shares rose 5.2%.
Tesla Motors fell 1.4%. The U.S. maker of EVs is slated to report third-quarter deliveries on Wednesday.
HP Inc fell 3.1% after shares of the personal-computer and printer company were downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citi and the price target was left unchanged at $37.
Ford rose 1.8% after shares of the auto maker were upgraded to Buy from Hold at Goldman Sachs based on the possibility of improving profitability.
Market News
Intel, Nvidia, Micron Lead Chip Sell-off as Geopolitical Tensions Increase
Semiconductor stocks were among the hardest groups on Tuesday as geopolitical tensions increased between Israel and Iran.
NVIDIA Corp shares fell 3.7% in Tuesday trading, while Intel saw losses of 3.3%. Micron Technology was also among the biggest losers, falling 3.3%. Nvidia reportedly halted development of its GB200 NVL36*2 dual-rack 72 GPUs, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said on Tuesday.
Nike Withdraws Annual Revenue Forecast, Shares Drop 5.4%
Nike shares dropped 5.4% after hours on Tuesday as the company withdrew its annual revenue forecast and postponed its investor day, weeks before a new CEO takes the helm to steer the sportswear giant through an ongoing strategy reset.
"We are withdrawing our full-year guidance ... This provides Elliott the flexibility to ... evaluate the current strategies and business trends and develop our plans to best position the business for fiscal 2026 and beyond that," Nike CFO Matthew Friend said.
Apple to Unveil New iPhone SE, iPad Air Next Year: Report
Apple is set to unveil a new iPhone SE and iPad Air next year, Bloomberg reported.
The new iPhone SE is slated to be based on the iPhone 14 and will no longer have a home button and sport an edge-to-edge screen, the news outlet added, citing people with knowledge of the matter. In addition, the new iPhone will support Apple Intelligence, the news outlet said.
Comments