According to Axios , U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken revealed that Iran and Hezbollah may begin launching attacks on Israel as soon as Monday. Bad news in the market kept coming, the stock market staged a carnage, and gold once again became a safe haven. However, Bitcoin, known as digital gold, once reached $52,300 this morning.
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ToggleIs war imminent in the Middle East?
According to reports, Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah have vowed to respond to Israel's assassinations of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.
Blinken is coordinating with close U.S. allies and trying to apply last-minute diplomatic pressure on Iran and Hezbollah to limit their strikes and prevent the chance of an all-out war.
This time may be different from Iran’s attack on Israel on 4/13. At that time, Iran launched nearly 350 attack drones and missiles towards Israel. Israel, the United States and their allies jointly intercepted most of them. Blinken said that it is not yet It's unclear what form retaliation will take or the exact timing of the attacks, but they could begin within the next 24 to 48 hours, or as early as Monday.
Stock market carnage, gold once again becomes a safe haven
There has been a lot of bad news in the market recently. Although the US Federal Reserve Chairman Powell announced for the first time after the July 31 meeting that he may start a cycle of interest rate cuts in September, investors can't wait! Data released on 8/1 suggested that U.S. economic conditions are deteriorating, with a surge in the number of initial jobless claims and the ISM manufacturing index also falling far below expectations. The U.S. non-farm payrolls announced on 8/2 was lower than expected. Black Friday came, U.S. stocks plummeted, and cryptocurrencies were also bloodbathed, which continued all the way to today's Asian stocks.
Taiwan stocks once fell below the 20,000-point mark at the opening, down nearly 7%. TSMC fell more than 7%, and Hon Hai, MediaTek, and Delta even flashed their limits. The Japanese and Korean stock markets also staged a carnage. The Nikkei 225 index fell more than 6% at the opening on Monday, the Topix index fell to the point of triggering the circuit breaker mechanism, and Korean stocks fell more than 4%.
The price of gold once again hit a record high, and expectations of interest rate cuts and risk aversion once again boosted demand for gold.
BTC briefly hit $52,300
Bitcoin, known as digital gold, did not rise with the trend of gold. Instead, it reached $52,300 this morning. It has fallen by about 25% since it failed to stand firm after rising above the $70,000 mark on July 29.