Markets slid on Mideast flare‑up
Markets fell Monday amid renewed Iran-related tensions, with the Dow dropping roughly 368–400 points to about 47,548 while the S&P was flat or down about 0.3% and the Nasdaq fell about 0.35%, and oil prices jumped as talks stalled. ( ) Traders and social feeds linked the selloff directly to geopolitical alerts involving the region’s actors. (x.com)
Wall Street opened lower on Monday as a new Middle East shock pushed oil above $100 a barrel and sent investors out of stocks. (newsbreak.com) By 9:40 a.m. Eastern time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 356.14 points, or 0.72%, to 47,572.11. The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 22.25 points, or 0.33%, to 6,794.64, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 81.74 points, or 0.36%, to 22,821.15. (newsbreak.com) Oil prices jumped back above $100 a barrel after President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz following the collapse of peace talks with Iran. Bloomberg reported Brent crude was up about 4% early Monday. (bloomberg.com) The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow shipping lane at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, and a large share of the world’s seaborne oil passes through it. When traders think that route could be disrupted, they bid up crude and sell assets tied to economic growth. (usatoday.com) The market move landed just as investors were already dealing with hotter fuel costs and a fresh inflation scare. Reuters said last week’s consumer-price data showed a record jump in gasoline and diesel costs that helped drive the biggest increase in United States consumer prices in nearly four years in March. (newsbreak.com) Energy stocks rose with crude even as most of the market fell. Chevron gained 1.8%, Exxon Mobil added 1.2%, and ConocoPhillips rose 2%, making energy the only major Standard & Poor’s sector in positive territory in early trading, Reuters reported. (newsbreak.com) Other corners of the market reflected the same risk-off mood. Reuters said investors moved toward the United States dollar as a haven, while financial stocks fell 0.6% ahead of a week of big-bank earnings. (newsbreak.com) The White House said the shipping restrictions were aimed at cutting off Iran’s oil income, while Iranian state media said naval forces had moved to the southern coast. The New York Times reported Monday that there was no immediate confirmation the blockade had begun by midmorning. (nytimes.com) By midday, some of the early panic had eased, but the message from the open was clear enough: traders were pricing Middle East supply risk first, and everything else second. (bloomberg.com)
