Daily summary: Wall Street reduces gains amid potential Israeli response to recent Iranian rocket attacks 🔴

U.S. indices reduce gains from the first part of the day following reports of a possible escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, specifically a potential Israeli response to recent Iranian rocket attacks, i.e., an attack on energy facilities according to information provided to NBC by the American administration.

Oil quickly rebounds from around $76.5 to nearly $78 USD after these reports, and some of the gains on Wall Street have been erased. Nvidia stock is still gaining over 3%; sentiment in the software industry is very positive today.

The US100 technology companies index gains the most to 20,200 points, i.e., about 1.00%. The US500 gains 0.58% to 5,780 points, while the small-cap companies index US2000 is trading without significant changes.

The gains on the US100 index are supported by the semiconductor sector, especially by Nvidia shares, which are up 3.20% today. The better sentiment on stocks can be attributed to information indicating sustained significant demand for the company's chips, including new Blackwell chips. Equally impressive gains are recorded by Palantir (PLTR.US) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW.US).

Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds rose today to 4.3%, the dollar extended gains, putting pressure on precious metals. Silver loses nearly 4%, and gold over 1%.

The trade balance for the current period amounted to -$70.4 billion, slightly better than the estimated -$70.6 billion. Last month's trade deficit was revised from -$78.8 billion to -$78.9 billion. The goods trade deficit improved to -$94.22 billion from -$102.8 billion in the previous month, while the services surplus increased slightly to $24.4 billion. The trade deficit with China for August amounted to -$27.88 billion compared to -$30.12 billion in July.

Chinese stock indices had a very weak session, with CHN.cash losing over 10%, after today's conference of Chinese policymakers disappointed investors' expectations, casting doubt on the sustainability of further gains in the Chinese stock market.

Regulators indicated that the economy is on track for 5% GDP growth but cast doubt on whether short-term stimulus measures will translate into demand, and did not provide assurance of further, highly anticipated fiscal stimuli.

The European session passed today in mixed moods, with significant losses in shares of resource and fashion companies, which had recently been gaining strongly on the wave of optimism related to China. Swatch and Kering shares recorded declines of 7% and 5% respectively; however, Hermes recovered initial losses and closed near neutral levels.

Cotton contracts rebound above $72 per bale, after a more than 3% sell-off driven by a strong dollar, declines in China, and lower oil prices.

Bitcoin recorded several strong volatility spikes but is still trading around $63,000 USD; the sentiment of the cryptocurrency market remains mixed.