Wall Street Today | Apollo Global considers participating in a bid for Twitter

The precious metal earlier climbed as much as 1% after capping a second weekly gain, following increases in oil and natural gas. The possibility of a de facto European Union embargo on Russian gas and the threat of some curbs on crude in Europe's next sanctions package have bolstered both commodities. That's adding to already elevated raw material prices, fueling demand for gold as a hedge against accelerating inflation.

The firm's interest-rate strategists recommended buying the benchmark securities on April 7 after rounds of selling drove the yield past 2.6%. They wagered that the rate had jumped too far due to concerns about inflation, tighter monetary policy from the Federal Reserve and fallout from Russia's war in Ukraine.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate last week hit 5%, up from 3.11% at the end of 2021, according to Freddie Mac data.

"The housing market faces an inflection point as an unexpectedly quick rise in interest rates, rising home prices and escalating material costs have significantly decreased housing affordability conditions, particularly in the crucial entry-level market," said Robert Dietz, chief economist at the NAHB.

This quarter was supposed to be a return to normal for U.S. banks after two years of pandemic operations. Instead, the war also threw new hurdles into the global economy’s path to pandemic recovery, upending stock trading and commodities markets alike. On Wall Street, the deal making that had powered the industry’s investment bankers started to slow.

French music streaming service Deezer is merging with a special-purpose acquisition company and aiming to go public at a €1.05 billion, or about $1.13 billion, valuation, the companies said.

The firm's bull case suggests the price could rise to around $5,800 by 2026 and the bear case suggests $2,900 -- still around three times more than the current share price of $1,005.