Financial markets stabilized in morning trading Wednesday after overnight declines following Iran’s missile attack on U.S. bases in Iraq
By
DAMIAN J. TROISE AP Business Writer
January 8, 2020, 4:50 PM
2 min read
NEW YORK —
Markets stabilized in morning trading Wednesday after overnight declines following Iran’s missile attack of U.S. bases in Iraq.
Stocks moved broadly higher and oil prices pulled back as Iran and the U.S. appeared to tone down their rhetoric. The missile attack comes a week after a U.S. drone strike killed a key Iranian general.
Banks made broad gains. Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo all gained less than 1%. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.84% from 1.82% late Tuesday. Higher bond yields allow banks to charge more lucrative interest on mortgages and other loans.
Technology and communications companies also rose. Real estate companies and utilities lagged the market as investors shifted money away from the safe-play sectors.
Energy stocks fell as oil prices dipped. Phillips 66 fell 3.6% and ConocoPhillips slipped 2.4%.
KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index rose 0.5% as of 11:39 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 138 points, or 0.5%, to 714. The Nasdaq rose 0.5%. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks rose 0.3%.
OVERSEAS: Markets in Europe recovered and made gains after making sharp drops overnight. Asian markets fell. Japan’s Nikkei 225 shed 1.6% and The Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.2%
WEAK RESULTS: Walgreens fell 6% after reporting a disappointing 25% drop in profit during its fiscal first quarter on weak sales growth. The world’s largest drugstore chain is going through a cost-cutting program and expects earnings to be flat this year.
JET CONCERNS: Boeing fell 1.2% after one of its 737-800 aircraft flown by Ukraine International Airlines crashed in Iran shortly after takeoff, killing all on board. The cause of the crash is under investigation. It occurred after Iran fired missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq. Boeing is also still dealing with the grounding of its 737-Max jets because of catastrophic technical issues.
