Business
Oil Prices Rise, Dow Drops Amid Fears Over Iran War
Oil prices jumped above $100 a barrel and stocks sold off as investors braced for deeper economic fallout from the Iran war.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, surged nearly 30% overnight, hitting its highest intraday level since mid-2022. It later pared some gains ahead of a G-7 meeting, where finance ministers were expected to discuss the possibility of releasing oil from reserves. Gulf oil producers are cutting production as their facilities come under attack and shipping remains paralyzed.
The Dow industrials dropped more than 700 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite also fell more than 1%. Overseas, Asian stock markets skidded, with South Korea’s benchmark index down 6% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling about 5%.