On Wednesday, the U.S. PPI surged to a four-year high in April, driven by a combination of higher energy and service prices, the latest sign of accelerating inflation during the Iran war.
The U.S. dollar index extended gains, eventually closing up 0.21% at 98.47; the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. bond closed at 4.465%, while the yield on the 2-year U.S. bond, which is sensitive to Fed policy rates, closed at 3.994%.
Spot gold shook lower, losing the important psychological barrier of $4,700, and finally closed down 0.56% at $4,688.95 per ounce; spot silver rose for seven consecutive days, refreshing a new high since March 11, and finally closed up 1.1% at $87.54 per ounce.
International oil prices retreated. WTI crude oil showed an inverted V-shaped trend, the day’s highest touched $103.75 / barrel, then erased all the gains, and finally closed down 1.22% at $101.07 / barrel; Brent crude oil finally closed down 2.09% at $103.09 / barrel.
U.S. stocks closed down 0.1% on the Dow, while the S&P 500 gained 0.59% and the Nasdaq rose 1.2%, with the latter two both hitting new closing highs. Micron Technology (MU.O) rose more than 4%, Google (GOOG.O) gained nearly 4%, and Tesla (TSLA.O) and Nvidia (NVDA.O) both rose more than 2%. Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index rose 3.9%, Baidu (BIDU.O) rose more than 7%, Alibaba (BABA.N) rose 8%.