Asia stock markets set to extend losses after Powell’s comments; Japan inflation slows

Investors have taken rallying gold prices as a signal that markets are risk averse in a period of rising bond yields and the escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Spot gold was last trading around $1,957.39 per ounce, up roughly 8% from its October lows around $1,819.

However, Fairlead Strategies’ Katie Stockton expects that gold is “short-term overstretched” and could pull back next week. She expects the recent move higher is a bounce from its previous lows.

“Gold have really shot up this week,” Stockton said. “Everyone’s been very quick to say that it’s because there’s risk off now in the market, but I would disagree with that.”

“We have to contextualize it with what happened before this relief rally in gold, right, which was a really sharp downdraft. So, gold is basically right back to where it was in sort of mid to late September,” she added. “So we’ve seen a round trip in the price of gold.”

Pharmaceutical stocks such as Pfizer and Moderna were among the 26 S&P 500 names hitting fresh lows on Thursday. Shares of Illumina also traded at lows not seen since December 2016.

Elsewhere, United Airlines hit lows last seen in October 2022, while Southwest Airlines was trading at lows not seen since May 2020.

Here are some of the other names hitting fresh lows:

— Sarah Min, Gina Francolla