(CercleFinance.com) – The New York Stock Exchange continued its decline on Wednesday, while risk aversion, fueled by the escalation of violence in the Middle East, did not weaken.
At the end of the morning, the Dow Jones dropped more than 0.5% to 33,822.5 points, while the Nasdaq Composite fell by almost 1%, to 13,403.6 points.
Following the explosion in a hospital in the Gaza Strip, investors remain concerned about the geopolitical situation, leading them to turn to assets deemed safer.
These tensions favor safe havens like gold, which climbs 1.3% to reach almost three-month highs, at $1,960.3 per ounce.
In this tense context, investors continue to take profits on the stocks that performed best this year, particularly in the consumer sector.
The CBOE VIX volatility index, nicknamed ‘the fear index’, started to rise again and jumped 7% beyond 19 points.
In terms of indicators, housing starts rebounded by 7% in September in the United States, which suggests that the American economy remains well oriented despite the impact of the rise in interest rates.
This recovery in the residential real estate market – which suggests a possible approach to a rate increase – benefits the dollar and bond yields.
The greenback rises against the euro, which falls towards 1.0535, while the yield on ten-year Treasuries reaches, beyond 4.91%, a new high since 2007.
On the oil front, the prices of Brent and American light crude are once again on an upward trend with Israeli-Palestinian tensions and the announcement of a decline in weekly crude oil stocks.
On the NYMEX, a barrel of light Texan crude rose 1.8% to $88.2.
Regarding results, Morgan Stanley fell by 7% after reporting a net profit down 9% in the third quarter, notably due to a fall in its commissions linked to mergers and acquisitions.
The consumer products giant Procter & Gamble grew by 2% after having done better than expected over the past quarter on the back of an increase in its prices in a still inflationary context.
Tesla (-2.8%) and Netflix (-1.6%) are on a downward trend before the publication of their financial accounts, scheduled for the evening.
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