Brent oil shot to its highest price since May after increased fighting in the Middle East threatened to slow the global flow of crude. Sharp drops for Alphabet and Tesla, meanwhile, yanked the U.S. stock market on Thursday to its worst loss in a month.
The S&P 500 sank 1.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1% and the Nasdaq composite fell 2.2%.
Brent oil’s price jumped as high as $102 per barrel during the day, up from $72 early this month. That threatens to worsen inflation, and Treasury yields climbed.
Alphabet and Tesla fell following their latest profit reports.
On Thursday:
The S&P 500 fell 90.66 points, or 1.2%, to 7,408.30.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 506.93 points, or 1%, to 51,711.65.
The Nasdaq composite fell 553.21 points, or 2.2%, to 25,137.69.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 19.78 points, or 0.7%, to 2,940.16.
For the week:
The S&P 500 is down 49.39 points, or 0.7%.
The Dow is down 434.77 points, or 0.8%.
The Nasdaq is down 382.55 points, or 1.5%.
The Russell 2000 is down 22.05 points, or 0.7%.
For the year:
The S&P 500 is up 562.80 points, or 8.2%.
The Dow is up 3,648.36 points, or 7.6%.
The Nasdaq is up 1,895.70 points, or 8.2%.
The Russell 2000 is up 458.26 points, or 18.5%.
