➤ Oil rises as Iran hits US-Iraqi bases.
➤ Stocks mixed; Aramco shares hits record low.
➤ Gold briefly touches $1,600; bonds strengthen.
➤ Boeing shares in focus after another deadly crash.
Oil prices rose and stocks struggled for traction after Iran fired ballistic missiles at Iraqi airbases hosting U.S. military.
Iran said the attack was in retaliation of a U.S. airstrike that killed a top Iranian military commander last week. U.S. President Donald Trump, who is due to make a statement today, tweeted that "all is well" and that the government is assessing casualties and damages. If there are no casualties, the U.S.'s next retaliatory step could be lessened, according to Mark Haefele, global chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management.
"In our base case of no major military escalation, the effects on economies and earnings on a global scale should be minor," Haefele added.
Brent crude oil jumped to as much as $71 per barrel before paring its gains to 0.8% at $68.84 per barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange as of 6:30 a.m. ET. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.5% to $63.04 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabian Oil Co.'s stock dropped to the lowest level since its IPO in December 2019, falling 0.7% to 34.10 Saudi riyal on the Tadawul Stock Exchange amid growing tensions in the Middle East.
Analysts pointed to possible upside in the price of gold as a safe-haven asset while also advising caution in near-term trading. "Our view ... is to take profits and stand aside to see if things calm down and prices subside," CPM Group Managing Director Jeffrey Christian said.
Gold advanced 0.4% to $1,580.60 per ounce and briefly touched a near-seven-year high of $1,600 in the wake of the latest attack. Other safe-haven assets like U.S. Treasurys rose, with the 10-year yield losing 1 basis point to 1.815%, while the Japanese yen ticked up 0.1% against the dollar.
Futures for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 erased earlier losses to rise 0.3%. Boeing Co.'s shares dropped 1.6% in pre-market trading following news that a 737 plane bound for Ukraine with about 170 people on board crashed in Iran shortly after takeoff, killing all on board.
European equities also erased losses, with Germany's DAX, France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 all flat by midday. In Asia, the Shanghai SE Composite index fell 1.2%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.8% and Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 1.6% lower.
In the foreign exchange market, sterling was virtually unchanged against the dollar, while the euro dipped 0.2% to $1.113. The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.1% to 97.11.
More from S&P Global Market Intelligence:
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The day ahead:
8:15 a.m. ET — U.S. ADP employment report (Econoday consensus: 157,000)
10 a.m. ET — U.S. Fed's Lael Brainard speaks
10:30 a.m. ET — U.S. EIA petroleum status report
3 p.m. ET — U.S. consumer credit (Econoday consensus: $16.7 billion)