S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average opened lower as investors grew more nervous about the escalating Middle East war. With the fresh decline, the Wall Street is likely to post its longest weekly losses since 2022.
Minutes into the trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 170.16 points or 0.37%, S&P 500 also fell over 0.51%, while Nasdaq was down 0.62%. Friday's fall comes a day after Nasdaq composite fell into correction zone, down over 10% from its record high set in October. Dow Jones is also trading near its correction territory as it is down over 9% from its all-time high. S&P 500 is nearly 7% down from its record high.
The decline comes after US President Donald Trump pushed back his deadline for Iran to sign a deal with the US. However, the fighting showed no signs of easing as Israel said it would escalate and expand the attacks on Iran.
While the equity markets slipped, oil prices continues to edge higher. The benchmark, Brent Crude futures, advanced 3.2% to more than $111 a barrel.
ALSO READ: Iran War: Trump Extends Pause On Attacking Power Infra By 10 Days Citing Ongoing Talks
Salesforce Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. fell over 2%, while Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp., Walt Disney Co., NVIDIA Corp. fell nearly 1%. On the other hand, Walmart Inc., Coca-Cola Co., Johnson & Johnson were among the gainers for the day.
As the US market opened, spot gold rose 0.93% to $4,416.86 an ounce. Crude oil prices rose, with the West Texas trading 2.52% higher at $96.86 per barrel.
The Bloomberg Dollar Index rose 0.1%, with the British Pound falling 0.4% at $1.3282 and the Japanese yen was at 159.85 per dollar.
Bitcoin, the largest traded cryptocurrency was down 3.5% at $66,567.77.
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