NEW YORK — U.S. stocks fell across the board as the widening conflict in the Middle East and a surge in global oil prices weighed on sentiment. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note climbed to its highest level since 2007.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed on the 15th at 52,093.11, down 0.63% from the previous session. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 0.45% to 7,585.73, and the Nasdaq dropped 0.78% to 25,981.57.
Among the largest companies by market capitalization, Apple lost 0.52%, Microsoft fell 1.64%, Amazon dropped 2.02%, Google parent Alphabet declined 1.26%, TSMC slipped 1.02%, SpaceX tumbled 3.15%, Broadcom fell 1.58%, Tesla lost 0.67%, SK hynix dipped 0.46% and SanDisk fell 1.36%. Only a few technology names held up in the decline, including Nvidia, up 0.57%, Facebook parent Meta, up 0.70%, and Micron, up 0.39%.
Surging oil prices again tripped up the market. Crude climbed to a four-month high after reports that Saudi Arabia was facing severe disruptions to oil shipments following attacks by Yemen's pro-Iran Houthi rebels. On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent crude for November delivery settled 2.90% higher at $108.75 a barrel. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery rose 4.38% to $105.83 a barrel. Both Brent and WTI marked their highest levels since May 19.
Prices rose even more steeply after news that three Libyan oil fields had halted operations, following the shutdown of Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline. The pipeline, which had served as a detour after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, came under Houthi attack, and Saudi Arabia subsequently suspended crude loading at Yanbu, its export terminal on the Red Sea. Concerns about a prolonged supply disruption grew after the Saudi government notified some European customers that crude cargoes scheduled for delivery late this month had been canceled. Saudi Arabia also issued an alert for Mecca, the Islamic holy city, for the first time since the war began. WTI rose more sharply than Brent as it drew attention as an alternative for European refiners. Libya's National Oil Corp. said the same day that operations at three oil fields had been halted after members of the Petroleum Facilities Guard, which protects oil installations, shut valves on some crude loading pipelines.
With the Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee meeting under way, Treasury yields also jumped again as higher oil prices spread concerns about inflation. The 10-year yield rose as high as 5.041%, its highest since July 2007, at the onset of the global financial crisis. It also closed at 5.006%, crossing the 5% threshold for the first time in three years, since October 2023. The two-year yield, which is sensitive to monetary policy, and the 30-year yield, a benchmark for mortgage rates, climbed to 4.676% and 5.368%, respectively. The 30-year yield touched 5.401% during the session, its highest level since June 2007. Rising yields mean falling bond prices. According to the CME FedWatch tool, the federal funds futures market priced in a 94.5% chance that the Fed will raise its benchmark rate by 0.25 percentage point at this meeting.
