US Stocks Slide for Fourth Straight Day Amid Rising Oil Prices and Inflation Concerns
US stocks continued their downward trend for a fourth consecutive session on Thursday, September 11, as rising oil prices and higher-than-expected wholesale inflation fueled bets of further interest rate hikes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 316.56 points, or 0.60 percent, to 52,064.10, while the S&P 500 dropped 44.66 points, or 0.58 percent, to 7,591.70. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 171.62 points, or 0.65 percent, to 26,081.73.
Oil prices surged after US President Donald Trump stated that elevated fuel costs could persist through the upcoming midterm elections. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery jumped $6.43, or 6.69 percent, to settle at $102.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for November delivery rose $6.42, or 6.34 percent, to close at $107.63 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
The US Department of Labor reported that the Producer Price Index (PPI) increased by 5.4 percent year-over-year in August, with the core PPI rising 4.6 percent over the same period. This prompted traders to boost their expectations of further monetary tightening, as indicated by a rise in the probability of a 25-basis-point interest rate increase at the US Federal Reserve's upcoming policy meeting to 73 percent.