Stocks dip, oil rallies as Middle East tensions keep investors on edge

LONDON, June 17 (Reuters): Stocks fell, while oil and gold rose on Tuesday, as fighting between Israel and Iran entered a fifth day, raising investor concerns over the risk of a broader regional conflict in a week packed with key central bank decisions.

US President Donald Trump urged everyone to evacuate Tehran and cut short his visit to the Group of Seven summit in Canada, while a separate report said he had asked for the National Security Council to be prepared in the situation room.

S&P 500 futures initially dropped 0.7 per cent before paring some of those losses, while crude prices , rose as much as 2.2 per cent to a high of $74.85 a barrel, bringing gains in the last week to around 11 per cent.

Adding another layer of complexity for investors this week is a raft of central bank meetings, starting with the BOJ and including the Federal Reserve, Bank of England and Swiss National Bank.

"Investors are trying to take all this on board. It is very difficult at the moment, I think. And there's an understandable degree of nervousness. Should I really be holding on to these stocks now at these levels?" Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said.

"Once the central bank parade is out of the way, then we might get a better sense of where they view things."