Last Friday, market expectations for a Fed rate hike in September rose after Fed Chair Wash stated that the Fed would have “a lot of work to do” if inflation showed no signs of cooling.The U.S. Dollar Index rose sharply during the U.S. trading session, ultimately closing up 0.56% at 99.68—its largest single-day gain in two and a half months;The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield closed up 4.7 basis points at 4.728%, while the 2-year Treasury yield—which is sensitive to Fed policy rates—closed up 12.2 basis points at 4.366%.
As the dollar and Treasury yields strengthened,spot gold plunged sharply during the U.S. trading session, hitting an intraday low of $4,445.52—a drop of nearly $200 from the day’s high—and ultimately closed down 3.22% at $4,454.28 per ounce;Spot silver ultimately closed down 4.25% at $66.31 per ounce.
Crude oil fluctuated lower as traders assessed hints regarding the Federal Reserve’s anti-inflation policies and rumors of a potential agreement on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.WTI crude fluctuated around the $82 mark and ultimately closed down 0.21% at $82.76 per barrel; Brent crude ultimately closed down 0.33% at $87.97 per barrel.
The three major U.S. stock indices closed lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.02%, the S&P 500 down 0.25%, and the Nasdaq down 0.52%. Mewell Technology (MRVL.O) fell 10.28%, and Nvidia (NVDA.O) fell 4.57%;Intel (INTC.O) fell 2.85%, and Tesla (TSLA.O) fell 1.71%; Amazon (AMZN.O) rose 3.97%, Google (GOOG.O) rose 1.74%, and Apple (AAPL.O) rose 1.63%.The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index rose 0.44%, with Alibaba (BABA.N) up 2.21% and Baidu (BIDU.O) up 0.19%.