US Stocks Drop as Oil Rally Fuels Inflation Fears
US stock indices closed lower on Friday as surging oil prices weighed on equities and bonds. The S&P 500 fell 0.5%, the Nasdaq closed flat and the Dow shed 653 points. Escalating Middle East tensions pushed oil higher, stoking inflation concerns ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision. Treasury yields rose after the market’s strongest session in over a year. Financial stocks dipped, with JPMorgan down 1.5%, Morgan Stanley falling 2.4% and BlackRock losing 1.7%. American Express dropped 3.7% despite beating earnings expectations and announcing plans to cut 5% of its global workforce. Among AI hyperscalers, Alphabet lost 1.2%, Meta shed 1% and Amazon retreated 0.9%. Concerns over rising debt to finance AI infrastructure pressured tech stocks this week. Most chipmakers recovered on Friday but still posted sharp weekly losses. For the week, the S&P 500 fell 1%, the Nasdaq lost 2.1% and the Dow added 296 points.
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US stock indices closed lower on Friday as surging oil prices weighed on equities and bonds. The S&P 500 fell 0.5%, the Nasdaq closed flat and the Dow shed 653 points. Escalating Middle East tensions pushed oil higher, stoking inflation concerns ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision. Treasury yields rose after the market’s strongest session in over a year.
Financial stocks dipped, with JPMorgan down 1.5%, Morgan Stanley falling 2.4% and BlackRock losing 1.7%. American Express dropped 3.7% despite beating earnings expectations and announcing plans to cut 5% of its global workforce. Among AI hyperscalers, Alphabet lost 1.2%, Meta shed 1% and Amazon retreated 0.9%. Concerns over rising debt to finance AI infrastructure pressured tech stocks this week.
Most chipmakers recovered on Friday but still posted sharp weekly losses. For the week, the S&P 500 fell 1%, the Nasdaq lost 2.1% and the Dow added 296 points.