[New York Stock Market] Hormuz Strait Ship Traffic Limited to 15 Per Day... Indices Falling Across the Board

International Oil Prices Surge Again

February Core PCE at 3.0%

New York Stock Exchange. New York, USA - Special Correspondent Yoonju Hwang

Despite Iran agreeing to a two-week ceasefire with the United States, it limited vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to just 15 ships per day. As a result, on April 9 (local time), all three major U.S. stock indices fell.

According to the Home Trading System (HTS), as of 10 a.m. at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 47,867.83, down 42.09 points (0.09%) from the previous trading day. The S&P 500 Index, which focuses on large-cap stocks, was at 6,774.57, a decrease of 8.24 points (0.12%). The tech-heavy Nasdaq Index dropped 55.768 points (0.26%) to 22,577.978.

Although the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, the precarious atmosphere led to renewed risk aversion in the market. The previous day, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, accused the United States of violating the ceasefire agreement, citing Israel’s attack on Lebanon, incursions into Iranian airspace, and the denial of Iran’s right to enrich uranium as reasons.

The United States also announced that U.S. forces would remain stationed in Iran and the surrounding region until Iran fully complies with a “genuine agreement.” The U.S. warned that there would be unprecedented military responses in the event of a breach of the agreement.

Eric Johnston, Chief Equity and Macro Strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald, commented, “From a short-term perspective, risks still remain,” adding, “Hormuz Island is not open yet, so we will have to watch how the situation unfolds in the coming weeks.”

At this time, international oil prices are also surging again. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for May delivery is soaring by 6.73% compared to the previous session. Meanwhile, Brent crude for June delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange is up 4.07% to $98.54.

The United States’ Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) for February, a key indicator closely watched by the Federal Reserve, rose 0.4% from the previous month and 2.8% from a year earlier. The core PCE price index, which excludes energy and food, increased 3.0% year-on-year and 0.4% month-on-month.

The PCE price index measures the prices that U.S. residents pay when purchasing goods and services. The Federal Reserve uses the PCE as a benchmark to assess whether it is achieving its monetary policy goals, so the market pays close attention to it.

Headline PCE and core PCE figures were in line with expectations. However, core PCE, which fell as low as 2.6% in April last year, has since rebounded and remained at 3%. This indicates that the United States has been facing upward inflationary pressure even before the war with Iran.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.