US stock markets showed gains on Thursday. By the time trading concluded in New York, the Dow stood at 52,487 points, marking a 0.3 percent increase from the previous trading day. Broader indices also climbed: the S&P 500 reached approximately 7,544 points, registering a 0.8 percent rise, while the technology-focused Nasdaq 100 was calculated at around 29,727 points, up 1.6 percent.
Andreas Lipkow, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets, commented that the lower-than-anticipated US labor market data provided a degree of relief to investors, allowing the premise of a robust labor market to hold firm. He noted that these developments caused the focus on Middle Eastern events to recede somewhat on Wall Street. Lipkow added that investors are currently adopting a cautious, short-term strategy, relying on a quick assessment of the situation, with the overall economic landscape remaining the primary determinant of their investment decisions.
In currency markets, the Euro strengthened slightly on Thursday evening. The exchange rate stood at 1.1427 US dollars per Euro, meaning the dollar was valued at 0.8751 Euros.
On the commodities front, gold gained significantly, rising to $4,122 per troy ounce by the evening (+1.1 percent), which equates to 115.98 Euros per gram. Conversely, oil prices fell sharply. At approximately 10 PM German time on Thursday, a barrel of North Sea Brent crude was priced at $76.07, a decrease of 2.5 percent (195 cents) compared to the previous day’s closing price.
