Wall Street falls, ASX set to slide; Oil prices jumps on US-Iran tensions
Stan Choe
Updated ,first published
While US stock markets fell, oil prices rose due to concerns about a possible conflict between the US and Iran.
The S&P 500 lost 0.3 percent for the first time in four days. The Dow Jones fell 267 points, or 0.5 percent, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.3 percent.
Insurance giant QBE reported full-year net profit rose 21 percent to US$2.16 billion ($3.1 billion).
Guzman y Gomez saw an 18 percent increase in total sales to $681.8 million in the first half of fiscal 2026.
Comparable sales in Australia rose 4.4 per cent and group underlying earnings rose 23.3 per cent to $33 million. Net profit amounted to 10.6 million dollars, an increase of 44.9 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.
The burrito chain declared a wide-open interim dividend of 7.4 cents.
The ASX gained 0.9 per cent on Thursday. The Australian dollar was trading at 70.59¢ at 8.22am AEDT.
Booking Holdings fell 6.1 percent, one of the market’s sharpest losses, even though the company behind the Booking.com, Priceline and OpenTable brands on Wall Street posted a profit last quarter that beat analysts’ expectations.
Its shares have been under pressure due to concerns that rivals powered by artificial intelligence technology could disrupt the industry and take away customers. Booking’s shares have lost nearly a quarter of their value so far this year.
Such concerns are spreading on Wall Street and hitting a wide range of industries, from software to legal services to trucking logistics. Investors are so suddenly and aggressively punishing the stocks of companies seen as threatened by artificial intelligence that analysts liken it to a “strike first, ask questions later” mentality.
Doubts are hurting not only the companies seen as potential AI victims, but also the private loan companies that lend to them. Blue Owl Capital, for example, fell 5.9 percent, bringing its loss for the year to 22.5 percent. Apollo Global Management lost 5.2 percent and Ares Management lost 3.1 percent.
Carvana lost 7.9 percent in value even though the retailer reported stronger profits than analysts expected in the latest quarter. Investors may be paying more attention to how much profit the auto retailer makes per vehicle sold, which was lower than expected.
Walmart, meanwhile, pushed and pulled the market after jumping to a 2.7 percent gain early on and then pivoting to a loss. The retail giant achieved stronger results than analysts expected in the last quarter, but gave a profit forecast for next year that fell short of estimates. It finished the day with a loss of 1.4 percent.
Deere helped limit the market’s losses, surging 11.6 percent after the machinery maker reported a higher profit than analysts expected. CEO John May said he was seeing a continued recovery in demand from construction and small agricultural customers, although global, large agricultural customers still felt pressure.
Some of the biggest gains in the S&P 500 came from stocks of oil companies, which rose along with crude oil prices. While the benchmark US crude oil increased by 1.9 percent to $66.43 per barrel, Brent rose by 1.9 percent to $71.66 per barrel.
Oil prices rose on concerns about a possible military conflict between the United States and Iran. President Donald Trump is increasing pressure on Iran, home to some of the world’s largest oil reserves, over its controversial nuclear program. If a conflict breaks out, global oil flows could be restricted.
Occidental Petroleum gained 9.4 percent after reporting a stronger profit than analysts expected in the last quarter.
Overall, the S&P 500 fell 19.42 points to 6,861.89 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 267.50 to 49,395.16, and the Nasdaq composite lost 70.91 to 22,682.73.
In the bond market, Treasury yields remained relatively stable following a report that the number of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits decreased last week. This could be a sign that the pace of layoffs is slowing.
A solid labor market may allow the Fed to wait longer before resuming interest rate cuts. Fed officials stated in their last meeting that they wanted to see inflation fall further before supporting interest rate cuts this year.
Continuing to rise in oil prices will push inflation upwards.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 4.07 percent from 4.09 percent at the end of Wednesday.
Other U.S. economic reports said manufacturing growth in the mid-Atlantic region accelerated, but potential homebuyers across the country didn’t sign many contracts for purchases in January. The US trade deficit also widened more than economists expected in December.
Following the good performance in foreign stock markets in Asia, indices in Europe fell.
In South Korea, the Kospi rose 3.1 percent as trading resumed after the Lunar New Year holiday. Hong Kong and Shanghai markets remained closed.
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