Oil tops US$100 and bond yields jump as Hormuz disruption and mixed trump signals jolt markets
Brent crude has surged back above US$100 and the Nasdaq has slipped into correction as the US-Israeli war with Iran tightens its hold on the Strait of Hormuz and re‑prices risk across equities, bonds and commodities.
According to CNBC, the S&P 500 fell 1.74 percent to 6,477.16, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.38 percent to 21,408.08 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.01 percent to 45,960.11, marking the worst day for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq since 20 January.
The Associated Press said the S&P 500 is now 7.2 percent below its record high and on track for a fifth straight losing week, while Reuters reported the Nasdaq is down about 11 percent from its 29 October record, confirming a correction.
Oil led the move.
CNBC reported that Brent futures jumped 5.66 percent to settle at US$108.01 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate rose 4.61 percent to US$94.48.
The New York Times said Brent, the global benchmark, was up nearly 4 percent to about US$106 after settling at US$102.22 the previous day, and that West Texas Intermediate was near US$94 after closing at US$90.32.
The Associated Press noted Brent has climbed from roughly US$70 before the war began.
The New York Times reported that shipping traffic exiting the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz has been “effectively halted” since the war began on 28 February.
The strait normally carries about one‑fifth of the world’s oil supply.
The OECD warned the conflict has knocked the global economy off a stronger growth path and that the near‑closure of the strait threatens to push inflation sharply higher, according to Reuters.
At the pump, the New York Times said US gasoline prices held around an average of US$3.98 a gallon after ticking down less than a cent, the first day without an increase since the war began.
The paper reported that gasoline prices are up 34 percent over that period and diesel is up 43 percent at US$5.38.
Rate expectations have shifted sharply.
The Associated Press said the 10‑year US Treasury yield jumped as high as 4.43 percent on Thursday, up from 4.33 percent a day earlier and 3.97 percent before the war started.
Reuters reported that traders who had expected two US Federal Reserve rate cuts before the conflict are no longer pricing in any easing this year, as higher oil prices fan inflation fears.
The new US unemployment claims rose slightly but remained low, suggesting a stable labour market that gives the Fed scope to hold rates steady.
Sector and stock moves underlined where the pressure sits.
Most of the S&P 500’s 11 sectors fell, with energy up 1.6 percent and utilities up 0.2 percent, while communications services dropped 3.5 percent and technology lost 2.7 percent.
According to the Associated Press, Meta Platforms fell 8 percent and Alphabet lost 3.4 percent after verdicts held Instagram and YouTube liable in a landmark social‑media addiction trial.
Reuters said jurors also found Meta and Google liable in the first two lawsuits claiming their platforms harmed children.
Nvidia slid about 4.2 percent, Tesla lost 3.6 percent and Amazon fell 2 percent, while Apple inched up 0.1 percent.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbled 4.8 percent and the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF fell 3.3 percent, leaving it down 17 percent since the Nasdaq’s 29 October high.
The selling extended overseas.
The Associated Press reported that Germany’s DAX fell 1.5 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.9 percent and South Korea’s Kospi slid 3.2 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.3 percent.
The New York Times said the FTSE 100 and Stoxx 600 each slipped about 1 percent, and that stocks in Asia were broadly lower, with the Kospi again the worst performer.
On the geopolitical front, CNBC reported that US President Donald Trump told a Cabinet meeting Iran had allowed 10 oil tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz as a “present” to the United States, after initially offering eight boats and then adding two more.
He said the US has “very substantial talks going on with respect to Iran,” even as Iranian officials publicly deny direct talks.
CNBC said US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed Washington has presented a 15‑point peace framework, delivered via Pakistan, and that Iranian state media reported Tehran rejected a US ceasefire offer and submitted its own conditions, including sovereignty over the strait.
Trump warned on his social media platform that Iran “better get serious soon” because there would be “NO TURNING BACK” if it did not, but later said he was pausing attacks on Iran’s energy plants for 10 days, until 6 April, at Tehran’s request.
Reuters reported that Trump said talks were going “very well,” while a senior Iranian official called the US proposal “one‑sided and unfair” but said diplomacy had not ended.
CNBC also said Gulf countries issued a joint statement condemning Iran’s “criminal” strikes from Iraqi territory on their energy infrastructure and urged the Iraqi government to halt attacks towards neighbouring countries.
Amid the swings, positioning remains divided.
Jed Ellerbroek of Argent Capital Management told CNBC that “it is a complacent market” and that “the market wants to go up,” while Doug Beath of Wells Fargo Investment Institute told Reuters that “the fog of war” and “a lot of conflicting signals” are driving investors to sell equities.
