Wall Street Stocks Plunge as Oil Prices Soar Past $100 a Barrel Amid US-Iran Conflict

Stocks plummeted on Wall Street as oil prices surged past $100 a barrel after the US and Iran war escalated further. The S&P 500 index dropped 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 407 points, or 0.8%. Oil companies bucked the trend, with Exxon Mobil rising 2.5% and Chevron increasing by 2.3%.

The price of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 2.8% to $100.62 a barrel for the first time since July. This increase in oil prices has exacerbated already high inflation, with gasoline prices up about 32% from last year to $4.22 per gallon. Diesel prices have also reached an all-time high, averaging $5.94 per gallon.

The ongoing US-Iran conflict has disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world's oil supply passes through. The conflict began in February and has further strained global energy markets. In related news, Meta Platforms saw its shares rise 5.6% after launching a personal artificial intelligence agent called Muse.