Surging crude oil prices weighing on Wall Street

Following the strength seen over the two previous sessions, stocks have moved back to the downside during trading on Monday. The major averages have all moved lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a notable slump.

Currently, the major averages are off their lows of the session but still in negative territory. The Nasdaq is down 204.65 points or 0.8% at 26,076.95, the S&P 500 is down 23.97 points or 0.3% at 7,551.42 and the Dow is down 78.41 points or 0.2% at 52,558.60.

The weakness on Wall Street comes amid a sharp increase by the price of crude oil, with US crude oil futures soaring by more than 4% amid the continued exchange of attacks between the United States and Iran.

US Central Command or CENTCOM said it completed a new wave of offensive strikes against Iran on Sunday, hitting dozens of targets at multiple locations with precision munitions.

Tehran responded by attacking Gulf Arab states, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and Oman, further straining the fragile ceasefire between the two countries.

President Donald Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social that the crucial Strait of Hormuz remains open but said he is reinstating the US blockage of Iranian ports.

Trump also said the US would be reimbursed at a rate of 20% on all cargo shipped through the strait as the US serve as the “Guardian of the Hormuz Strait.”

The sharp increase by the price of crude oil has led to renewed concerns about the outlook for inflation and the possibility of higher interest rates.

Semiconductor stocks are seeing substantial weakness on the day, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunging by 3.2%.

Considerable weakness is also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 2.4% slump by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.

Gold, airline and networking stocks are also seeing significant weakness, while energy stocks are moving sharply higher along with the price of crude oil.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower on Monday. South Korea’s Kospi nosedive by 9%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index plunged by 2.1% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 1.9%.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are little changed on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.1%, the German DAX Index is up by 0.1% and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.2%.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved to the downside amid the sharp increase in crude oil prices. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2.4 basis points at 4.593%.