If oil prices stay very high for very long, households’ budgets already stretched by high inflation could break under the pressure.

Oil prices surged to their highest levels since 2023 due to the Iran war, coinciding with a weak update on the US labour market that highlighted the economy's precarious position.

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%.

If oil prices stay very high for very long, households’ budgets already stretched by high inflation could break under the pressure.

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…

Helping to assuage investors' fears, U.S. President Donald Trump told CBS News he thinks “the war is very complete, pretty much.”

The S&P 500 dipped 0.2%, a day after wild swings caused by extreme moves in the oil market.

Since the start of the war, sharp moves for oil prices have cascaded through financial markets worldwide and caused big swings up and down.

Investors remained wary of the impact of the U.S.-Iran war on oil prices throughout the day.