US Stocks Plunge as Crude Oil Prices Soar Past $90 Amid Middle East Tensions

The US stock market has been experiencing selling pressure since the start of September, with the S&P 500 Index closing down 0.71%, the Nasdaq Composite Index ending down 1.03%, and Dow Inc falling by $419 or 0.79%.

The bearish trigger behind this decline was the surge in crude oil prices amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, with Crude Oil Futures breaking through $90 per barrel.

Rising interest rates are also weighing heavily on AI and high-tech stocks, which tend to have high P/E ratios, pushing up the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note to around 4.79%.

September is historically known as a weak month for US stocks, with an average return of approximately -1.1% to -1.2% since 1928, and a percentage of years with declines reaching about 56%.