U.S. equities fell on Thursday. At the close in New York the Dow dipped 0.5 % to 49 395 points. A few minutes earlier the broader S&P 500 was 0.3 % lower at about 6 862 points, while the technology‑heavy Nasdaq 100 was down 0.4 % at roughly 24 797 points.
Investors weighed the likelihood and potential fallout of a military escalation between the United States and Iran. While the German Bundeswehr pulls soldiers out of northern Iraq and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk urges Polish citizens to leave Iran within a few hours, U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for a deal with the Tehran regime within ten to fifteen days. Both sides are bracing for escalation; a Wall Street Journal report noted that the United States has deployed more air power in the Middle East than it has since the 2003 Iraq invasion.
The euro was slightly weaker on Thursday evening: one euro bought 1.1770 U.S. dollars, and one dollar exchanged for 0.8496 euros.
Gold benefited, trading at $5,000 per troy ounce in the evening-up 0.5 %-which equals about €136.57 per gram.
Meanwhile, oil surged: a North Sea Brent barrel quoted at $71.93 at around 10 p.m. German time, 2.3 % higher than the close of the previous trading day.