Oil Booms Above 101 as US Stock Market Plummets
The US stock market plummeted on July 23 due to a sharp rally in Brent crude oil, which crossed the $101 mark. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 506.93 points, or 0.97%, to close at 51,711.65, while the Nasdaq Composite fell by 553.21 points, or 2.15%, to end at 25,137.69.
The S&P 500 index also declined by 90.66 points, or 1.21%, to close at 7,408.30. Tech stocks were among the biggest losers, with Alphabet and Tesla leading the pack. Alphabet fell 6.9% after raising its capital spending forecast, while Tesla nosedived by 14.5% on a dip in profitability.
Other tech stocks also suffered significant losses, including Nvidia, Meta, Amazon, Broadcom, and Oracle. Non-tech heavyweight Goldman Sachs shed 2.1%, while Visa slipped 0.5%. The sharp decline in the stock market was largely due to rising oil prices, which have climbed more than 30% from pre-conflict levels.
The US Federal Reserve is scheduled to begin its July monetary policy on July 28th and 29th. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, chances of a rate hike next week have risen to 33%, while traders see much higher chances of a September Fed rate hike at 90%.