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The CENTCOM update came a day after the U.S. military said it had intercepted Iranian attacks on three American warships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Fox News said the U.S. had retaliated against the attacks by striking targets on Iran’s Qeshm port and the city of Bandar Abbas in and near the strait, citing a senior U.S. official.
The flare up in fighting comes at a time when Iran said it was still reviewing a new one-page, 14-point proposal that could potentially bring an end to the conflict, and that it had not yet reached a conclusion.
Trump told ABC News that the new attacks were "just a love tap" and that the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran was still "in effect." He later posted on social media: "We’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their Deal signed, FAST!"
U.S. jobs growth solid in April
Nonfarm payrolls edged up 115k last month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said, better than the 65k that economists were expecting. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%.
While the report was closely anticipated, it comes at a time when market participants and watchers of monetary policy are more focused on inflation due to surging oil prices sparked by the ongoing Middle East conflict. Analysts noted that the April data suggested a hit to wage growth due to inflation.
Coming into the report, traders had priced in a small chance of the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates this year to potentially combat the inflationary shock from the war. But odds of rate hikes were tempered after the data was released, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
The U.S. dollar slipped after the data, as higher interest rates generally bode well for the greenback. A weaker dollar usually boost gold, as it makes bullion less expensive for foreign buyers.
Gold has fallen more than 10% since the Iran conflict erupted in late February, pressured by soaring oil prices that fueled inflation fears and lifted interest rate expectations.
Among other precious metals, spot silver rose 2.5% to $80.4125/oz, while platinum added 0.2% $2,065.70/oz.
Ayushman Ojha and Sam Boughedda contributed to this article
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