The U.S. stock markets eased slightly on Tuesday. At the close in New York, the Dow reported 47,707 points, a decline of 0.1 % from the previous day.
A few minutes earlier, the broader S&P 500 was at about 6,781 points, down 0.2 %. The Nasdaq 100 hovered near 24,956 points, still slightly off the mark.
The conflict between Israel and Iran continued to influence market sentiment. President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the war was “almost finished” and Energy Secretary Chris Wright tweeted that an oil tanker had been successfully escorted through the Strait of Hormuz by U.S. forces. Those reports initially pushed oil prices lower and early stock gains before the White House later denied any military escort, with the minister deleting his tweet. In the evening, Trump issued a warning to Iran, claiming that the regime may have mined the Strait of Hormuz. He warned that if mines were indeed laid and not promptly removed, the military repercussions for Iran could reach an unprecedented level.
The euro was slightly weaker by Tuesday night: one euro equaled 1.1610 USD, while one dollar traded at 0.8613 euro.
Gold performed well; by evening the price of a fine ounce rose to 5,196 USD, up 0.9 %. This translates to 143.90 euro per gram.
Meanwhile, oil prices fell sharply. At about 9:00 p.m. German time, a barrel of Brent crude was priced at 91.05 USD-a drop of 79.1 cents, or 8 % lower than the close on the previous trading day.