US Stocks Slide as Iran-US Tensions Escalate

The US stock market continued its downward trend on Thursday as tensions between Iran and the US escalated. All three major indices, the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and NASDAQ Composite, posted declines, with the S&P 500 dropping 0.58% to close at 7,591.79.

The Dow Jones fell 0.6%, closing at 52,064.46, while the NASDAQ Composite dropped 0.65% to finish at 26,081.72. The broad-based decline across US stocks was fueled by concerns over the escalating tensions between Iran and the US in the Gulf.

Investors sought safe-haven assets as geopolitical risks spiked, leading to a strengthening of the US dollar against major currencies. The EUR-USD pair fell 0.18%, while the AUD-USD dropped 0.83%. Even traditional safe-haven currencies like the yen and Swiss franc lost ground.

Global stock markets also closed mostly lower, with only India's S&P BSE SENSEX and Japan's Nikkei 225 posting gains. Major indices in Canada, the UK, Europe, and Asia fell, while some regional bourses saw significant declines, such as Indonesia's IDX COMPOSITE.