Global Markets Sway: Oil Drops and Wall Street's Volatile Session

Oil prices fell more than 2% on Thursday as the possibility of a U.S.-Iran nuclear agreement increased expectations for a higher global crude supply. Meanwhile, Wall Street faced mixed results in turbulent trading sessions, with European shares bouncing back to close on a high note. Gold prices spiked over 1% amid the market fluctuations.

U.S. retail sales figures demonstrated inconsistency, while producer prices witnessed an unexpected decline in April, as per Thursday's data. Consequently, global equities rose 0.3%, although emerging market stocks felt downward pressure. U.S. Federal Reserve officials, including Chair Jerome Powell, signaled the need to reevaluate their monetary policy approach concerning jobs and inflation.

In further developments, the STOXX 600 index in Europe gained 0.6%, recovering previous losses, primarily driven by the energy sector's performance. Wall Street's indexes displayed mixed outcomes, with the Dow Jones climbing, the S&P 500 also rising, but the Nasdaq experiencing a slight dip. Amidst corporate discussions and tariff challenges, U.S. gold futures saw a significant increase of 1.2%.

(With inputs from agencies.)