Oil and gold are attractive assets after Iran fired up to hundreds of missiles at Israel. At the time of publication, the exact number of shots and those intercepted are unknown. Markets reacted by bidding oil prices higher by 1.5%.
While the rise in gold prices continued, the firmer oil prices were a welcome change. Sellers dumped oil stocks since mid-April 2024. Since then, shares of Occidental Petroleum (OXY) fell from over $70 to close as low as $49.75. However, OXY stock will mark the fourth straight session of gains. Larger firms like Exxon Mobil (XOM) are trading at the top of their range. Chevron (CVX) and Conoco Phillips (COP) are still in a downtrend despite yesterday’s sharp rally.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq (QQQ) lost 1.39% on Monday. Iran’s aggression against Israel hurt the widely-held names. This includes Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), ServiceNow (NOW), Intel (INTC), and Micron (MU). Fearful investors may blame the geopolitical tensions as a reason to sell those stocks. However, they are vulnerable to any bad news. Valuations remain highly unfavorable. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), for example, trades at a forward P/E of 29 times. Storage firms like Seagate (STX) trade are expensive. Its price-to-sales ratio is 3.46 times, compared to 1.76 times for Western Digital (WDC).
