Wall Street indices felt geo-political jolts and opened in the red on Wednesday after Donald Trump warned of fresh strikes on Iran tonight.
Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 600 points soon after the opening bell and traded over 1% lower at 52,394.48, S&P 500 was down 0.55% to 7,464.53, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.35% to 25,733.94 at open.
Oil prices climbed again after the Republican President declared an end to the existing ceasefire between the two countries. Brent was up 5.6% to $78 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate traded 5.2% higher at $74 a barrel.
Major semiconductor companies like Micron Technology Inc., Advanced Micro Devices Inc., and Intel Corp. remained choppy after a two-day losing streak.
Intel slipped 2% to a low of $107.70, AMD traded 0.4% higher at $519.07, Micron erased initial losses to rise over 1% to $956.32.
Right around market opening, Trump signalled a possible escalation in the conflict with Iran, saying the US could target higher-value assets if necessary, including potentially taking control of Kharg Island.
While speaking on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Ankara Turkey, Trump soured hopes of reaching a peace deal with Tehran and said that any deal with Iran may not hold.
However, he added that he does not expect US special envoy Steve Witkoff to hold talks with Tehran, although he said such talks remain possible. He added that negotiators could continue discussions and "see what happens."
On the currencies front, the Dollar Spot Index was little changed, along with the euro which remained at at $1.1407, and British pound was little changed at $1.3365. On the other hand, Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 162.50 per dollar.
Spot gold prices fell over 1% to a low of $4,040.94 an ounce. As of 10:02 a.m. EST, they traded 0.9% lower at $4,068.74 an ounce.
Bitcoin, the largest traded cryptocurrency, fell 2.9% to $61,849.35.
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