Markets
Yiwen Lu

US stocks pull back from record after inflation data

The S&P 500 slid 0.2% after rallying to another record high on Wednesday. The Nasdaq 100 was down 0.1%, while the Russell 2000 was down 0.6%.

Economic data released on Thursday morning showed higher-than-anticipated inflation alongside a softening labor market. The headline consumer price index was 2.4% more than a year ago, a drop from last month’s 2.5% but was still more than Wall Street expected. The weekly jobless claims surged to the highest level since August 2023 due to the impact of Hurricane Helene as well as the Boeing strike. 

Yields on 10-year Treasury bonds, which affect mortgage rates and other consumer borrowing costs, rose slightly to above 4%. The 2-year Treasury yields, which are more sensitive to policy changes like interest rate cuts, were down. Traders are now pricing in a slightly higher chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut during the Federal Reserve’s November meeting compared to Wednesday.

Most S&P 500 sectors retreated, but the energy sector logged a 0.7% gain. It joined an oil rally that pushed crude oil prices up after two straight sessions of losses, as Israeli troops reportedly fired at UN peacekeepers in Lebanon. The US benchmark WTI crude future settled up 3.6%, while the global benchmark Brent crude climbed 3.7% at settlement. 

Megacap stocks were mixed. Nvidia was up 1.6%, while Tesla fell 1%, hours before a long-awaited robotaxi event.

More Markets

See all Markets
markets

Stocks get a jolt as Netanyahu says Israel is helping US efforts to open Strait of Hormuz

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was helping with US efforts to open the Strait of Hormuz, putting a jolt into stocks. 

The S&P 500, which had been solidly negative for most of the day, turned slightly green after the remarks. The rebound lost a bit of steam shortly thereafter, but stocks still remained higher than they were before Netanyahu’s comments.

“Israel is helping, in its own way, in intel and other means, the American efforts to open the Strait of [Hormuz],” Netanyahu said, according to a video of the press conference.

Here are another few interesting headlines coming across from the presser, per Reuters:

*NETANYAHU: IRAN HAS NO CAPACITY TO ENRICH URANIUM OR MAKE BALLISTIC MISSILES AFTER 20 DAYS OF WAR

*NETANYAHU: CAN'T DO A REVOLUTION FROM THE AIR, THERE NEEDS TO BE A GROUND COMPONENT AS WELL

*NETANYAHU: ISRAEL ACTED ALONE AGAINST SOUTH PARS

*NETANYAHU: TRUMP ASKED US TO HOLD OFF ON FUTURE SUCH ATTACKS

And here’s how the market reacted instantly after his comments:

“Israel is helping, in its own way, in intel and other means, the American efforts to open the Strait of [Hormuz],” Netanyahu said, according to a video of the press conference.

Here are another few interesting headlines coming across from the presser, per Reuters:

*NETANYAHU: IRAN HAS NO CAPACITY TO ENRICH URANIUM OR MAKE BALLISTIC MISSILES AFTER 20 DAYS OF WAR

*NETANYAHU: CAN'T DO A REVOLUTION FROM THE AIR, THERE NEEDS TO BE A GROUND COMPONENT AS WELL

*NETANYAHU: ISRAEL ACTED ALONE AGAINST SOUTH PARS

*NETANYAHU: TRUMP ASKED US TO HOLD OFF ON FUTURE SUCH ATTACKS

And here’s how the market reacted instantly after his comments:

markets

Gold tumbles as market sees Fed shifting toward inflation fighting

Gold and gold miners tumbled Thursday, as the rolling Iran war energy crisis revived worries about inflation and pushed the market to take additional rate cuts this year off the table.

Gold (SPDR Gold Shares ETF) futures dropped roughly 6% shortly after 12 pm ET, hammering share prices for miners Newmont and Freeport-McMoRan. Silver (iShares Silver Trust) futures were down nearly 9%

The decline in precious metals came alongside another sharp rise in energy prices. US benchmark crude oil (United States Oil Fund LP) and natural gas prices both jumped more than 3%, after major Iranian attacks on Qatari energy infrastructure. US retail gasoline prices tracked by AAA hit $3.884, up 33% from the end of last month, when a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran ignited hostilities.

Normally, gold prices are seen as a hedge on inflation, which might suggest that they should rise alongside expectations for persistent price increases.

But the speed of the Iran war energy shock — which will add to inflationary pressures already visible in recent economic reports such as this week’s Producer Price Index and could become a political problem for the Trump administration — has nudged traders to change their their views on whether the Federal Reserve would be able to deliver rate cuts widely expected just a few weeks ago.

Yields on shorter-maturity US Treasury notes shot higher Thursday — reflecting expectations for tighter monetary policy. And prices in the market for Fed Funds futures suggest traders no longer see the US central bank cutting interest rates this year at all. (Early this month, market pricing implied expectations for two more cuts this year.)

On Thursday yields fell on longer-term US government securities, such as the US 30-year bond. That suggests the market thinks a Fed shift toward inflation-fighting and away from rate-cutting would likely result in some decline in growth and, or inflation, helping to explain the drop in precious metals prices, as there would be less of a need for inflation hedges in such a scenario.

The decline in precious metals came alongside another sharp rise in energy prices. US benchmark crude oil (United States Oil Fund LP) and natural gas prices both jumped more than 3%, after major Iranian attacks on Qatari energy infrastructure. US retail gasoline prices tracked by AAA hit $3.884, up 33% from the end of last month, when a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran ignited hostilities.

Normally, gold prices are seen as a hedge on inflation, which might suggest that they should rise alongside expectations for persistent price increases.

But the speed of the Iran war energy shock — which will add to inflationary pressures already visible in recent economic reports such as this week’s Producer Price Index and could become a political problem for the Trump administration — has nudged traders to change their their views on whether the Federal Reserve would be able to deliver rate cuts widely expected just a few weeks ago.

Yields on shorter-maturity US Treasury notes shot higher Thursday — reflecting expectations for tighter monetary policy. And prices in the market for Fed Funds futures suggest traders no longer see the US central bank cutting interest rates this year at all. (Early this month, market pricing implied expectations for two more cuts this year.)

On Thursday yields fell on longer-term US government securities, such as the US 30-year bond. That suggests the market thinks a Fed shift toward inflation-fighting and away from rate-cutting would likely result in some decline in growth and, or inflation, helping to explain the drop in precious metals prices, as there would be less of a need for inflation hedges in such a scenario.

markets

Novo says FDA has approved high-dose Wegovy shot

The Food and Drug Administration approved Novo Nordisk’s high-dose Wegovy shot, the company announced on Thursday.

Wegovy HD, a once-weekly 7.2-milligram injection, helped patients lose 20.7% of their body weight after 72 weeks, putting it in line with Eli Lilly’s competitor drug, Zepbound. By comparison, Wegovy typically has a maximum dose of 2.4 milligrams, which resulted in 15% weight reduction over 68 weeks in trials.

Wegovy HD was the first drug to be approved through the FDA’s new priority voucher system. This comes as Novo, despite being early to the GLP-1 boom, has been outpaced in sales by Lilly. The company released a pill version of Wegovy in January, which has shown strong early uptake, though new competitor products are set to debut this year and next.

The stock is down about 1.6% for the day, but was down nearly 3% before the announcement.

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, Robinhood Derivatives, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC. Futures and event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC.