Oil and treasury yields are surging as signs indicate that the fighting between Israel and Hamas is set to intensify. Brent crude rose by 3%; its largest weekly gain since April, while the 10-year Treasury yield dropped eight basis points to 4.61%. West Texas Intermediate crude jumped 4.1% to $86.30 per barrel.
As Israel prepares to ramp up its retaliation against terror organization Hamas for Saturday’s deadly attack, analysts from Bloomberg Economics believe that oil could surge to $150 per barrel while cutting $1 trillion off world economic output.
Speaking on Treasury yields, Christophe Barraud, chief economist and strategist at Market Securities LLP, offered the following observation: “Bonds are rallying ahead of the weekend as traders likely want to hedge geopolitical risk.” Futures on the New York Stock Exchange declined, with those on the S&P 500 slipping by 0.3% and futures on the Nasdaq 100 falling by 0.6%. Contracts listed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average remained little changed.