Wall Street tumbles: Nasdaq drops 2.6% and oil soars above $113 on fears of strikes against Iran

New York — Wall Street closed lower this Thursday in a session shaped by two colliding concerns: fears of new U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran, which sent oil prices surging, and investor unease over the high cost of artificial intelligence investments.

The S&P 500 fell 1.2%, its worst day since July, and the Nasdaq composite plunged 2.6% to 26,008.86, its worst day since June, the Associated Press reported. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, by contrast, added 11 points and finished nearly flat, as most stocks outside the tech sector ended higher.

Investors reacted to reports that the United States and Israel are drawing up plans for a "short but intensive" operation in Iran after the November 3 midterm elections, The New York Times revealed. Washington also ordered non-emergency personnel and their families out of Saudi Arabia, and President Donald Trump said that "something, one way or another," will happen "fairly soon" in Iran.

Brent crude rose 4% to $113.17 a barrel, its highest level in five months, while WTI gained 2.4% to $99.47, the New York Post reported. The national average gasoline price in the United States remains above $4 a gallon.

On the AI front, Meta and Tesla led the declines despite reporting strong earnings: investors punished their growing spending on data centers and chips. Semiconductor equipment maker Lam Research tumbled 11.8% after issuing a profit forecast below expectations. The 10-year Treasury yield fell below 5% for the first time since late September as investors sought safe havens.

Photo: New York Post

Source: New York Post