US stocks open lower as oil prices weigh on investors

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks tumbled early Thursday, with spiking oil prices in the wake of the US-Israel war on Iran making investors uneasy.

Shortly after trading started, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.1 percent at 46,879.09.

The broad-based S&P 500 was down 1.0 percent to 6,706.10, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was down 1.3 percent to 22,426.80.

Oil prices breached the psychological barrier of $100 per barrel briefly on Thursday, and were once again approaching it as US markets opened.

Brent had risen 7.9 percent at $99.23, while WTI rose 8.1 percent at $94.33.

READ MORE: Wall Street gains as investors monitor US-Iran tensions

“Oil prices and also the uncertainty with respect to when the war will end” is weighing on markets, Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments told AFP.

“The reality is that right now based on the facts that we know so far, there’s no end in sight and that’s the problem for investors,” he added.

Since the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran on February 28, global oil supplies have been choked as the key Strait of Hormuz remains almost completely blocked.

The waterway sees about a fifth of world energy supplies flow through it, and since the start of the war Iran has threatened any ships attempting to make the transit.

The conflict has seen Iran hit oil infrastructure in major Middle East producers, while US and Israeli strikes target Iranian energy infrastructure.