Wall Street followed global markets lower and oil prices briefly spiked to nearly $120 per barrel as the Iran war intensified, threatening production and shipping in the Middle East.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged as many as 945 points before finishing with a loss of 453, or 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.6%.

Gulf Arab oil producers are cutting production as they run out of storage space because they can't export through the Strait of Hormuz