Stocks sold off on Wednesday, as a tightening in Middle East tensions was reflected in a jump in oil prices and investors digested lackluster earnings everywhere from Morgan Stanley to United Airlines.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell about 1%, or 330 points, while the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) dropped 1.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led the way down, sinking 1.6%.
Treasury yields rose. The yield on the 30-year Treasury (^TYX) touched above 5%, while the 10-year yield (^TNX) pressed above 4.9%, its highest level since 2006.
Caution prevailed in markets as Israeli and Palestinian authorities traded blame for an explosion at a hospital in Gaza. President Joe Biden landed in Israel on Wednesday, but Jordan canceled a planned summit with Arab leaders after the Gaza blast.
Oil prices moved up more than 1%, with gains stacking up after Iran’s foreign minister called for an embargo against Israel. Crude oil (CL=F) futures climbed above $88 a barrel, while Brent crude (BZ=F) traded above $91 a barrel.
Rising fuel prices give investors another inflation factor to consider as they weigh the Federal Reserve’s next move in interest rates.
After the bell, Tesla (TSLA) and Netflix (NFLX) lead out tech earnings, which will be closely watched for any impact from “higher for longer” interest rates.
Among techs, shares of ASML (ASML, ASML.AS) fell after the Dutch chip equipment maker warned about flat sales ahead, as customers slow orders thanks to an uncertain economic backdrop.
Meanwhile, Nvidia (NVDA) stock retreated alongside other semiconductor makers after the US tightened curbs on AI chip technology exports to China, though there could be a lifeline in the rules.
And United Airlines (UAL) fell nearly 10% after it delivered a bleak profit outlook Tuesday. Its fall helped drag down shares of the other major airlines.
