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Lowe’s Cos. comparable sales beat expectations during the latest quarter as shoppers maintained home spending despite weakening consumer sentiment and economic turbulence.

The home-improvement retailer said its comparable sales dipped 1.7%, better than what analysts expected.

The company maintained its guidance for the year. The stock is up 2.5% in pre-market trading.

Oil rallied following a CNN report that new US intelligence suggests Israel is preparing for a potential strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Brent crude rose above $66 a barrel. It wasn’t clear that Israeli leaders have made a final decision on whether to carry out the strikes, CNN said, citing unidentified officials.

Oil has been volatile since last week on mixed headlines about the fate of Iran-US nuclear talks, which could pave the way for more barrels to return to a market that’s expected to be oversupplied later in the year. An attack by Israel would hinder any progress in those negotiations and add to unrest in the Middle East, which supplies about a third of the world’s crude.

Taiwan’s central bank said it strategically let the local dollar rally earlier this month to let market expectations for gains play out, a move that allowed the currency to post its sharpest appreciation since the 1980s.

“It’s a tactic, we can cool down the market expectations by doing this,” Deputy Central Bank Governor Yen Tsung-ta said in response to questions from lawmakers about whether the Taiwan dollar’s rise was normal. “We had used similar tactics before.”

The Taiwanese dollar had surged as exporters rushed to sell the greenback, partly on expectations the authorities will allow it to strengthen to help reach a trade deal with the US. The advance may have been exacerbated by life insurers — among Asia’s biggest holders of US debt — seeking to hedge those holdings, which make up the bulk of their more than NT$23 trillion ($767 billion) of foreign assets.

A gauge of the dollar fell to a two-week low as traders awaited a Group-of-Seven meeting this week for any signs the Trump administration is seeking a weaker US dollar.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dropped 0.5% on Wednesday, its third straight decline. Options markets reflected the shift, with one-month sentiment turning the most bearish in five years.

“The broad dollar decline is counter-intuitive but suggests financial markets are losing confidence in US policies,” wrote Elias Haddad, a currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. “The fundamental backdrop remains difficult for the dollar for three reasons: (i) the Trump administration implicitly supports a weaker dollar, (ii) the US economy faces stagflation risk, and (iii) US policy credibility has been undermined by the trade war.”

US Treasury yields ticked higher on Wednesday as investors closely monitored discussions on the budget bill and federal deficit, which is particularly contentious after Moody’s lowered the U.S.′ credit rating.

At 3:53 a.m. ET, the 30-year Treasury yield was up over 4 basis points to 5.016%. The 10-year yield was more than 4 basis points higher at 4.528%. The 2-year yield advanced just over 2 basis points, reaching 3.994%.

One basis point is equivalent to 0.01%, and yields and prices move in opposite directions.

The UK’s annual inflation rate hit 3.5% in April, coming in above analyst expectations, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday.

Economists polled by Reuters had anticipated the consumer price index would reach 3.3% in the twelve months to April.

The latest data release comes against a recent trend of cooling inflation, with the rate of price rises slowing to 2.8% in February and 2.6% in March.

Gold rose as traders assessed trade tensions and the Federal Reserve’s rate path, with some buying back their previously built bearish positions after bullion reached a key level.

The precious metal’s climb to $3,250 an ounce helped trigger some short covering, sending it higher by as much as 1.7%, according to Ole Hansen, head of commodities strategy at Saxo Bank A/S.

“Gold has seen an underlying bid all day as the market considers whether we are past peak optimism,” said Hansen, adding that technical buyers rushed in once the $3,250 level was broken.

For now, the Dow futures are trading 230 points lower, while futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are down 30 points and 130 points respectively.

US markets had ended lower on Tuesday, but after recovering from the lows of the session.

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