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Yiwen Lu

US stocks dip, oil rises on Middle East escalation

The S&P 500 fell 0.2% on Thursday on a continued escalation of tensions in the Middle East. The Nasdaq 100 was down 0.1%, and the Russell 2000 lost 0.7%. 

President Biden on Thursday said that the US was discussing the potential for Israel to attack Iranian oil facilities with Israeli officials. Oil benchmarks spiked on the comments. Futures of both US crude oil and Brent crude rose more than 5% at settlement.

As a result, energy was the best performer among major S&P 500 sectors. The sector ETF added 1.8%, with companies like Valerogaining 6.2% and Marathon Petroleum, up 5.7%. 

Consumer discretionary lost the most, off 1.2%. It was dragged down by Tesla, which fell 3.4%. Shares of the EV maker were down 3.5% on Wednesday after it posted deliveries for the third quarter which was short of expectations.

The dollar gained for the fourth straight day, and the Treasury yields advanced for the second session. Weekly jobless claims released on Thursday were modestly up from a week earlier and slightly higher than analysts’ expectations. 

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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