Oil prices tumbled and equity markets soared on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump said an Iranian missile strike on bases in Iraq had not harmed U.S. troops and damage was minimal, showing Tehran wanted to de-escalate the Middle East standoff.
Iran fired missiles at military bases housing American troops in Iraq in retaliation for last week’s slaying by U.S. drones of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, a strike that raised fears of an escalating regional conflict.
“Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world,” Trump said in an address to the nation.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq stock indexes hit record highs after Trump’s remarks and crude oil prices slumped, with U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate posting a 10 per cent slide from a peak following the Iranian attack to after Trump spoke.
Gold had surged past $1,600 for the first time in nearly seven years in earlier trade before discarding gains as fears of a larger conflict abated, leading investors to move out of safe-haven assets as risk appetite returned.
The safe-haven yen fell from three-month highs against the dollar and the Swiss franc, another safe haven, also retreated. Brent oil futures slid off a four-month peak hit in frenzied early trade soon after the Iranian attack.
“Once Trump spoke and suggested that this is basically done for now, risk took off. We’re back to the all-time highs in the S&P and accordingly, so-called safe assets sold off,” said Jacob Oubina, senior U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets.
Iran’s long-term goal of a sphere of influence might be jeopardized if it attacks too aggressively, said John Vail, chief global strategist at Nikko Asset Management in Tokyo.
“The impact on global risk assets will probably moderate from here as we are likely past the worst part of the crisis,” Vail said in an e-mail. “Neither side wants a war.”
Investors are betting on a de-escalation in Middle East tensions, said Sebastien Galy, senior macro strategist at Nordea Asset Management in Luxembourg.
In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index erased gains late in the session, finishing down 0.24 points at 17,167.82 as resource stocks weighed.
The energy sector closed down 1.9 per cent, while the materials sector lost 2.9 per cent.
Leading the index were CAE Inc., up 4.1 per cent, Cott Corp., up 4 per cent, and Freehold Royalties Ltd. higher by 3.8 per cent.
Lagging shares were Westshore Terminals Investment Corp., down 10.7 per cent, Encana Corp., down 7.6 per cent, and Baytex Energy Corp., lower by 7.5 per cent.
MSCI’s broad gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.31 per cent, while bourses in Paris, Frankfurt and Milan rebounded.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.17 per cent and emerging market stocks lost 0.15 per cent.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 161.79 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 28,745.47, the S&P 500 gained 15.88 points, or 0.49 per cent, to 3,253.06 and the Nasdaq Composite added 60.66 points, or 0.67 per cent, to 9,129.24
Spot gold fell more than 1 per cent to $1,554.35 an ounce, having soared to $1,610.90 earlier in the session, its highest since March 2013.
U.S. gold futures settled 0.9 per cent lower at $1,560.20.
A report showing a surprise build in U.S. stockpiles helped crude prices to fall.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude inventories rose by 1.2 million barrels during the week ended Jan. 3. Analysts had expected a decline.
Brent futures fell $2.83 to settle at $65.44 a barrel and U.S. WTI crude settled down $3.09 at $59.61 a barrel. WTI futures earlier hit $65.65, the highest since late April.
U.S. Treasury yields rose after yields on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note overnight dropped to 1.705 per cent, their lowest in more than a month, as worried investors bought U.S. government debt in a safe-haven move after the Iranian attack.
Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 14/32 in price to yield 1.872 per cent, nearly 20 basis points above the low it hit overnight following the Iranian strike.
The dollar index, tracking the unit against six major peers, rose 0.3 per cent, with the euro down 0.37 per cent to $1.111.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.70 per cent versus the greenback at 109.20 per dollar.
Reuters