Stocks slide as U.S. launches new strikes against Iran, oil rises

Oil moved first, and stocks followed. After U.S. Central Command carried out more “self-defense strikes” against Iran at President Donald Trump’s direction, West Texas Intermediate crude traded near $92 a barrel and U.S. stock futures slipped, with S&P 500 futures down 0.4%, Nasdaq 100 futures off 0.6% and Dow futures lower by 123 points, or 0.3%. The market’s immediate concern was not just the strike itself but the risk that retaliation could disrupt a vital energy corridor and keep fuel costs elevated.

That is the transmission mechanism investors are now watching closely. A broader clash in the Middle East raises the chance of shipping interruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, where even the threat of tighter flows can lift crude before any barrels are actually lost. Reuters reported that Iran declared the strait closed after the new strikes, while Brent crude climbed to $95.40 a barrel and WTI to $92.63. If higher crude holds, the next stop is gasoline and diesel, then the inflation gauges that feed into consumer prices. Until those price increases show up in sustained fuel data and broader inflation readings, the move can still be dismissed as a shock-driven market jolt rather than a lasting macroeconomic shift.

The pressure was already visible on Wednesday, when U.S. equities sold off sharply. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 953.33 points, or 1.87%, to 49,918.78. The S&P 500 dropped 1.62% to 7,266.99, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.98% to 25,169.50. Oil helped drive that slide, with WTI settling up 2.07% at $90.03 a barrel and Brent rising 1.8% to $93.10 after Trump said negotiations with Iran were taking “too long” and that Iran would have to “pay the price.”

Technology shares added a separate layer of weakness. Oracle sank more than 11% in extended trading after the company said it would raise another $20 billion in equity and debt to fund its artificial intelligence buildout. That drop intensified pressure on futures tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, reinforcing the sense that investors were already rotating away from momentum names before the latest escalation.

The spillover reached Asia before U.S. cash trading reopened. South Korea’s Kospi fell 4.1% in early Thursday trade, Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 2.3%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.97%. Traders are also watching Thursday’s 8:30 a.m. ET producer price index release, which could show whether the oil move is still confined to markets or starting to reach the inflation data that will shape the next policy debate.