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Dollar gains against the yen and euro; stocks decline

Investors weighed the prospects for Japan's fiscal policy as major stock indexes slid on Thursday. The S&P 500 closed at a record high on Wednesday despite the ongoing U.S. shutdown, political risks in Japan and France, and other factors that have made investors nervous.

On Thursday, the euro fell again against dollar.

Investors weighed the potential impact of a Gaza ceasefire agreement on Middle East tensions with the stalled peace negotiations in Ukraine.

Gold prices rose above $4,000 per ounce this week for the first. Last week, spot gold fell 0.41% to $4,021.19.

Sanae Takaichi said that she didn't want to see the Japanese yen fall too much. After the comments, the dollar briefly eased against yen.

The dollar was up by 0.24% to 153.04yen, after reaching 153.21 earlier. This is the highest level since February 13. The U.S. federal government shutdown that began last week has prevented investors from receiving key economic reports.

Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments, New York, stated that despite Thursday's decline, the stock market is still buoyant. He added that stocks may weaken if there is a prolonged government shutdown.

He said: "We are in a very solid bull market which refuses to fall meaningfully." "I expect a pullback to happen at some point, but the market is strong for now."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 148.24, or 0.32 %, to 46.453.54, while the S&P 500 lost 18.44, or 0.28 %, to 6,735.11, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 77.11, or 0.33 %, to 22966.75. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon stated that there is a greater risk of a major correction in the U.S. Stock Market within the next 6 months to 2 years. He cited factors such as geopolitical tensions and government spending.

The MSCI index of global stocks fell by 3.04 points or 0.31% to 993.07. The pan-European STOXX 600 Index fell 0.35%.

French bonds maintained gains from the previous day on the optimism that the country will avoid a snap elections. The office of French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday that he will appoint a prime minister in the next 48 hours.

The 10-year French bond yield increased by 0.2% on the day to 3.529%. The euro last fell 0.15% to $1.1608.

The oil prices fell slightly on Friday, with U.S. Crude falling by 0.3% to $62.36 per barrel and Brent dropping to $66.03 a barrel, down by 0.33% for the day.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. notes increased 0.9 basis points, to 4.14% from 4.131% at late Wednesday.

(source: Reuters)