Wall Street stocks retreated on Thursday as surging energy prices and steady interest rates from leading central banks spurred investor caution.
International benchmark Brent crude jumped 10% before retreating, while European gas prices rose 35% following attacks on energy infrastructure linked to the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict.
Early trading saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.7% at 45,909.86, the S&P 500 down 0.9% at 6,565.60, and the Nasdaq Composite tumbling 1.3% to 21,872.69.
“Obviously, energy prices and the war are going to be front and centre for a while until investors understand what the path forward is,” said Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital Management.
The European Central Bank raised its inflation forecast but kept interest rates steady, mirroring decisions by the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, and the Federal Reserve.
“The shift in rate-cut expectations has been a major buzzkill for the stock market, which is also sobering up at the sight of rising Treasury yields,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.
Among individual stocks, Rivian surged 7.5% after Uber announced plans to invest up to $1.25 billion to purchase 10,000 fully autonomous robotaxis, with an option for 40,000 more. Uber itself rose 0.9%.
Meanwhile, Micron fell 7.3% despite reporting record revenues and key financial benchmarks, as analysts attributed the decline to profit-taking after prior gains.
