Stock market today opened lower as events in the Middle East dominated trading, with the S&P 500 starting down about 0.8 percent and trading as low as minus 1.2 percent, while the Dow and Russell 2000 also hit declines greater than 1 percent.
Buyers stepped in to defend the S&P 100-day moving average and eventually pushed the index into positive territory near its 50-day moving average, despite Secretary of Defense Hegseth and President Trump not ruling out boots on the ground in Iran if necessary, though Hegseth said the US would not be pulled into an endless war.
The Russell 2000 led early gains, and retail and thematic names showed notable strength in a market described as a Bombs Fly Retail Buys reaction, with the Roundhill Meme ETF up about 4 percent and non-contractor major space names trading roughly 5 percent higher.
Sector leadership narrowed to three winners, led by Energy as oil pushed higher and by Industrials on defense strength, while Technology also rebounded as software recouped losses with IGV up about 2 percent and Nvidia bouncing roughly 3 percent.
Yields Dollar And Market Implications
Treasuries failed to draw safe-haven bids, as yields across the curve spiked by more than 10 basis points from intraday lows, and the 10-year Treasury yield moved back above 4.0 percent after finally breaking below that level last week.
Rising yields reflected inflation concerns tied to energy price moves and ISM Manufacturing data, which offset any straightforward haven flight, while the US Dollar Index pushed through its three major moving averages and gained about 1 percent against the euro, yen and Swiss franc.
Other market movers included a roughly 5 percent rally in major cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin seeking to reclaim 70k and Ether trading back above 2k, quantum computing stocks showing mixed performance, and rare earth names mostly higher as investors rotated into pockets tied to defense and energy.
