Stocks Plunge on Rising Rates and Escalating Iran Tensions

Thursday's pre-market stock futures declined after another brutal day, with all major indices finishing lower for the second consecutive session. The Dow Jones Industrials closed at 52,381, down 0.77%, and the S&P 500 finished the day at 7,636, down 0.48%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed at 26,253, down 0.64%.

The small-cap Russell 2000 led the major indices lower, closing at 2,919, down 1.40%. Rising rates and Brent Crude trading above $100 were among the factors that pushed sellers to hit bids. The conflict with Iran continued to escalate, driving up oil prices. Brent Crude finished the day at $101.60, up 3.76%, while West Texas Intermediate was last seen at $96.68, up 3.94%.

Gold and silver surged to $4,400 and $67.16 respectively, with precious metals returning to their winning ways due to central bank gold demand and geopolitical tensions. Bitcoin also rose to around $79,700, tracking gold rather than falling equities. JPMorgan upgraded Meta Platforms to Overweight with an $820 target price while Piper Sandler initiated both Advanced Micro Devices and NVIDIA with Overweight ratings.