Oil Prices Soar on Iran Tensions as US Stocks Slip
Oil prices surged to $88.09 per barrel after fighting resumed in the war with Iran, raising concerns about global oil supply.
The jump of 7.3% comes on top of previous volatility, with Brent crude's price swinging from as low as $72 earlier this month to as high as $102 last week due to uncertainty over US-Iran deals allowing oil tankers to pass freely through the Middle East.
However, US stocks fell after the Federal Reserve opted not to raise interest rates, despite expectations of a 34% probability of a rate hike. The S&P 500 dropped 1.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq composite lost 2.2% and 1.7%, respectively.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq was weighed down by Nvidia, Micron Technology, and AMD, all of which declined after previous surges in their stock prices due to artificial-intelligence technology.