NEW YORK — A tech-powered rally boosted US stocks on Thursday, while crude prices dropped as supertankers sailed through the reopened Strait of Hormuz hours after US President Donald Trump signed a peace deal with Iran.
With US markets closed on Friday (June 19) in observance of Juneteenth, Wall Street's three major equity indexes notched gains on the holiday-shortened week as investors processed Middle East developments and a hawkish pivot from the Warsh Fed.
Stocks: US stock indexes gain, Nasdaq up 1.9 per cent; Europe's STOXX 600 dips
Sectors/Shares: Chips surge; energy and aerospace/defence lag
FX: Dollar hits one-year high on rate hike bets; yen weakness draws warnings from Japanese officials
Bonds: US Treasury yields dip the day after Warsh's debut as Fed Chair
Commodities/Metal: Brent, WTI crude prices touch pre-Iran-war lows; gold drops
Investors brace for less predictable Fed under Chairman Warsh
The US Federal Reserve is likely to be less predictable as the central bank with Kevin Warsh at the helm.
While the Fed left its key interest rate unchanged on Wednesday, as expected, investors were blindsided by new projections and remarks from the new chairman indicating that the Fed will pull back from signalling future rate moves.
Warsh also announced a review of the central bank's operations.
Central banks to continue raising borrowing costs after Iran peace deal
Central banks around the world are no longer able to look past the inflation surge related to the Iran war, and many have either hiked rates or suggested they will, amid estimates that normalisation of energy prices would last well into next year.
The Bank of England joined the Fed in signalling the likelihood of rate hikes, while the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan have already pulled the trigger.
Trump blows up spy bill after Senate Republicans nix voter ID legislation
In a sign of a growing rift with President Trump just months before midterm elections, Senate Republicans have begun to say "no" to the commander-in-chief.
After their refusal to pass the Save America Act, which would impose strict voter documentation requirements and do away with the filibuster, the president derailed a Senate plan to pass a key national security bill this week in order to protect his controversial choice of loyalist Bill Pulte as acting US spy chief.
What could move markets tomorrow?
• Developments in the Middle East
• Energy market moves
• Social media posts from Trump
• Germany producer prices (May)
• UK retail sales (May)
• Canada retail sales (April)
• Poland industrial output (May)
• Moody's review of Canada and Slovakia's credit ratings
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They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.
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