Wall Street lower as war weighs, Oil prices up, ASX set to fall
Stan Choe
Updated ,first published
Stocks fell sharply and oil prices rose as doubts about a possible end to the war with Iran took over on Wall Street.
The S&P 500 fell 1.7 percent for its worst day since January and is on track for its fifth straight week of losses. This dates back to before the start of the Iran war and would be the longest losing streak in almost four years.
The Dow Jones fell 469 points, or 1 percent, and the Nasdaq composite fell 2.4 percent, more than 10 percent below its all-time high set earlier this year. This is such a steep decline that professional traders might call it a “correction.” The Australian share market is poised to fall, with futures pointing to a decline of 93 points, or 1.1 per cent, at the open. The ASX fell 0.1 per cent on Thursday. The Australian dollar was weaker at 68.89¢ at 5.25am AEDT.
Stock markets also fell across much of Asia and Europe. These are the latest developments in financial markets in a week that started with high hopes after President Donald Trump said productive talks were being held to end the war. However, Iran denied that direct talks were continuing and subsequently rejected the US offer of a ceasefire reached through Pakistan.
Clashes continued on Thursday and thousands more US troops approached the area. Meanwhile, Iran has tightened its control over the critically important Strait of Hormuz. It could be creating something of a “toll booth” for tankers to cross the narrow waterway, where a fifth of the world’s oil reaches customers around the world from the Persian Gulf.
As hopes diminished that the strait could return to normal, the barrel price of Brent crude oil increased by 4.8 percent to $101.89. This was down from around US$70 before the war began. Benchmark US crude oil increased by 4.6 percent to $94.48 per barrel.
“They better get serious soon, before it’s too late, because when this happens, there is NO GOING BACK and it won’t be pretty,” Trump said of Iran’s negotiators on his social media network Thursday morning.
Just minutes after Wall Street wrapped up trading for the day, Trump toned down his speech a bit. Iran said it had postponed its threat to “destroy” power plants until April 6 and would allow more time for talks.
“Talks are ongoing and going very well, despite inaccurate statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media and others.”
After this, oil prices pared some of their gains and Brent crude oil fell to $100 per barrel. Treasury yields also limited their big jumps in the bond market.
High Treasury yields and bond market disruptions were big factors Trump cited when backing off his initial threats of global tariffs on “Independence Day” a year ago. These moves have led critics to claim that Trump is always shying away or using a “TACO” if financial markets show enough pain.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.43 percent on Thursday, from 4.33 percent at the end of Wednesday and 3.97 percent before the war began. That’s a significant jump for the bond market and sent higher rates for mortgages and other types of loans to U.S. households and businesses, slowing the economy.
Slightly more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, but the number was still low compared to historical numbers, a report released Thursday morning said.
A slowing job market usually encourages the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates to stimulate the economy. But even though traders have made several predictions for 2026, hopes have risen on Wall Street for a possible cut in interest rates this year. Because low interest rates carry the risk of worsening inflation, and the rise in oil prices increases these concerns.
On Wall Street, technology stocks were the heaviest weight in the market.
Meta Platforms fell 8 percent and Alphabet fell 3.4 percent the day before after a jury found Instagram and YouTube liable in a landmark social media addiction case.
The financial penalties were small compared to the companies’ huge profits, but it could herald a turning point that would invite more lawsuits.
Other Big Tech stocks also fell, including Nvidia’s 4.2 percent drop and Amazon’s 2 percent drop. Apple was an outlier, rising 0.1 percent.
Commercial Metals fell 4.7% after the maker of steel rebar and other products reported weaker profit than analysts expected in its latest quarter. CEO Peter Matt said bad weather hurt North American operations during the quarter, but underlying market conditions look positive.
In total, the S&P 500 fell 114.74 points to 6,477.16, remaining 7.2 percent below its all-time high set a few months ago. Dow Jones index decreased by 469.38 points to 45,960.11 points, and Nasdaq composite index decreased by 521.74 points to 21,408.08 points.
In foreign exchanges, German DAX lost 1.5 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.9 percent and South Korea’s Kospi lost 3.2 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index suffered one of the world’s lightest losses, falling 0.3 percent.
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