Global risk sentiment worsens, boosting USD; rate hike expectations push gold below $4700.

On Thursday, during a national speech during the Asian Games, Trump stated that if an agreement cannot be reached, the United States will launch more aggressive strikes against Iran in the next two to three weeks. Subsequently, global risk sentiment deteriorated sharply, boosting the strength of the US dollar and putting significant pressure on commodity prices. During the US trading session, Iran announced that it is drafting a passage agreement for the Strait of Hormuz with Oman, causing significant market volatility once again. The US dollar index rose all the way to 100.25 after Trump's prime time speech, and then fell to 99.8 after news that Iran and Oman drafted the Strait of Hormuz passage agreement, ultimately closing up 0.002% at 100.02; The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield closed at 4.311%, while the 2-year Treasury yield sensitive to the Federal Reserve policy rate closed at 3.8090%. On Friday morning (April 3rd Beijing time) in the Asian market, trading of gold crude oil was suspended throughout the day due to Good Friday. However, on Thursday, the gold price fell and ultimately closed below $4700 per ounce. Influenced by the strengthening of the US dollar and rising expectations of interest rate hikes, Trump vowed to escalate the Iran war in the coming weeks, which may prolong the interruption of important energy flows in the Strait of Hormuz. WTI crude oil rose above $110 per barrel, ultimately closing up 13.28% at $112.28 per barrel, with a daily increase of over $13; Brent crude oil ultimately closed up 7.78% at $106.54 per barrel. On Thursday, Brent crude oil (the benchmark for physical crude oil delivery in the North Sea) broke through a high of $140 per barrel, the highest level since 2008.