The good vibes washing around global markets are proving to be very hard to shift. Overnight, the festering conflict in the Middle East went very clearly from bad to worse. Iran fired a barrage of missiles towards Israel — precisely the kind of escalation that investors say they have been fretting about for months — and still the reaction across markets has been nervy, but muted.
Stocks in Europe and Asia edged down a little but largely held their ground in the morning after the attacks. Oil prices picked up, but only enough to take the price of Brent crude to $75 or so a barrel — the highest in around a week. Gold prices, already sitting pretty after near 30 per cent gains this year, failed to hit a new record. And the dollar — typically one of the go-to bets in times of geopolitical strife — carved out unremarkable gains, adding about 1 per cent against both the euro and a basket of major currencies this week.
“It’s a bit scary when you see the involvement of Iran,” said Bj?rn Jesch, chief investment officer at German asset manager DWS. “But it was more or less the same reaction as the last time they sent missiles. The question is the involvement of the US.”