- Concerns that the Israel-Hamas conflict will escalate into a wider Middle Eastern conflict caused stock markets around the world to fall, while bonds and gold rose. After reaching $90 per barrel, oil prices began to fall.
- The S&P 500 fell more than 1%, marking its worst week in a month. The index broke through the key 200-day moving average, which some chartists interpret as a sign of more losses. Tesla saw its biggest weekly drop since December as megacaps sold off. American Express fell more than 5% on disappointing card volume. Regions Financial led bank losses after forecasting further declines in net interest income.
- Traders continued to seek refuge in the face of recent geopolitical developments. Treasury yields reduced weekly increases that had pushed the 10-year yield to nearly 5%. Gold has crept closer to $2,000 per ounce.
- Hamas freed two American citizens who had been imprisoned in Gaza. Leaders from across the region are gathering in Cairo on Saturday for a crisis summit. The Israeli military claimed to have struck Hamas targets in Gaza overnight. In response to fire from Lebanon, Israel struck Hezbollah assets and evacuated residents near the border. The Iran-backed militant group claimed to have launched guided missiles at several Israeli targets.
- Aside from the Middle East crisis, global markets have been thrown for a loop in recent weeks by rising Treasury yields and growing concerns about interest rates remaining high for an extended period of time.
- Loretta Mester, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, said the US central bank is nearing the end of its tightening campaign if the economy continues to perform as expected.
