Investors are watching over the weekend for signs of whether the conflict in the Middle East will escalate, which could ratchet up volatility in markets that already expected a busy week ahead with a Federal Reserve policy statement and Apple results.
Investors have grown more worried about a widening conflict in recent days after the U.S. dispatched more military assets to the Middle East while Israel attacked targets in Gaza and Hamas supporters in Lebanon and Syria.
On Friday, Brent futures settled up 2.9% at $90.48 a barrel on concerns the conflict could disrupt crude supplies. Spot gold , a popular safe haven for nervous investors, vaulted over $2,000 for the first time since mid-May. "That said, any sign that the other countries in the region are becoming more involved in the conflict would cause oil prices to rise sharply," they wrote.
Some investors also expect a widening conflict could prompt safe-haven buying of Treasuries. This could moderate the surge in yields, which move inversely to prices, and this in turn could ease pressure on stocks and other assets.
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