Dollar Shines as War-Wary Investors Flee to Safety
Get caught up.
Smoke rises over western areas of Tehran following continued US and Israeli strikes on the Iranian capital on March 3. As the war escalates, investors have been flocking to the US dollar for safety.
Photographer: Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu/Getty Images
A morning selloff in stocks moderated in the afternoon and a surge in Treasury yields eased as the war in Iran continued to spur wild moves across asset classes. An announcement from the Trump administration that the US military will help secure shipping lanes may have helped pare what had been a 9% surge in oil.
Following an earlier 2.5% plunge in the S&P 500, the index recovered to being down less than 1%. “For now, markets are trading headline to headline,” said Fawad Razaqzada at Forex.com. “Much will depend on whether tensions stabilize—or whether this proves to be the start of a more prolonged disruption to global supply.”