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The S&P 500 also inched up 2.74 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 6,881.62 while the narrower Dow dipped 73.14 points (0.2%) to 48,904.78. The Dow rebounded sharply today after an initial sell-off, as traders bought stocks at lower levels following U.S.-Israel joint strikes over the weekend that killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran retaliated with drone and missile attacks on Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar, while Israel struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon after cross-cellpadding='0' cellspacing='1' border fire. President Trump stated the conflict may last 4-5 weeks but the U.S. can sustain longer. Crude oil prices spiked amid supply disruption fears, fueling inflation worries and reducing rate cut expectations, per AJ Bell's Dan Coatsworth. U.S. ISM manufacturing PMI eased slightly to 52.4 in February from 52.6 in January, still signaling growth but missing economist forecasts of 51.8. Networking stocks moved sharply higher, driving the NYSE Arca Networking Index up by 3.7% to a record closing high. The sharp increase by the price of crude oil also contributed to substantial strength among oil producer stocks, with the NYSE Arca Oil Index surging by 3.4%. Natural gas, software and brokerage stocks saw significant strength while airline stocks plummeted amid concerns about travel disruptions due to the conflict in the Middle East. The weakness in the airline sector reflected on the NYSE Arca Airline Index plunging by 4.1% to its lowest closing level in two months. housing stocks were considerably weak, as reflected by the 2% slump by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index. Asia-Pacific stocks moved mostly lower. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1.4%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled by 2.1%. The major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index dove by 2.4%, the French CAC 40 Index tumbled by 2.2% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 1.2%. In the bond market, treasuries pulled back sharply after moving notably higher over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note which moves opposite of its price, surged 8.6 bps to 4.04%. Powered by Capital Market - Live News
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