U.S. equity markets sold off sharply Thursday, as fears that Israel and the U.S. would restart attacks against Iran sent oil prices higher and major tech stocks failed to hold on to recent gains.
The S&P 500 closed down 1.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 2.6%. The price of international Brent crude climbed nearly 4% to $113 a barrel, its highest level since May, while U.S. crude gained more than 2% to close at more than $99 a barrel.
Demand for Treasury bonds also increased — bucking the trend of the past several weeks — as investors sought out the safe-haven assets amid riskier ones like tech stocks selling off. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell below 5% for the first time since late September.
The market moves were sparked in part by reports that Israel and the U.S. were preparing for a military operation in Iran after the November midterm elections.
Likely targets include Iran’s energy infrastructure and nuclear sites, according to The New York Times.
U.S. military and diplomatic personnel were also being evacuated from several countries in the Middle East, NBC News reported.
Iranian officials have promised widespread retaliation to any strikes, pointing to critical Middle East data center sites and undersea internet cables as potential targets.
“It’s been another difficult 24 hours for markets, as investors grapple with AI growth concerns, higher oil prices, and ongoing fiscal stress,” Henry Allen, director and macro strategist at Deutsche Bank, wrote in a note to clients Thursday.
Major tech stocks led the declines in equity markets, with Meta and Tesla dropping after both companies reported quarterly earnings Wednesday.
Meta’s earnings and revenues beat forecasts, but only after excluding billions of dollars in legal penalties the company paid last quarter. It also warned investors that it expects to increase its spending in the coming year to meet demands for computing power.
A separate regulatory filing revealed that Meta intends to spend an additional $825 billion on contracts related to its AI infrastructure build-out.
Tesla, meanwhile, said it was reining in its capital spending plans, disappointing investors who were hoping for a signal of more aggressive expansion.
The slide in the Nasdaq got additional fuel Thursday after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in an appearance on CNBC that capital to finance the AI investment boom was becoming “scarce” due to higher interest rates and a glut of existing spending commitments.
Despite Thursday’s rout, the S&P 500 remains near the all-time highs it set earlier this month.
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A major sell-off in French government debt has also dragged European stocks lower in recent weeks.
But a significant market drawdown in the U.S. threatens to further dent Republicans’ prospects in the upcoming midterm elections.
President Donald Trump frequently points to solid stock market gains as evidence that his economic agenda has made Americans richer.
A prolonged market stumble ahead of the Nov. 3 elections would undermine this core argument for Trump and the GOP.
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