US open: Stocks lower as oil surges on fresh Middle East escalation

(Sharecast News) - Major indices were in the red early on Thursday as oil prices surged following a "dangerous escalation" in the war in the Middle East.

As of 1415 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.70% at 45,899.87, while the S&P 500 shed 0.39% to 6,598.82 and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 0.67% weaker at 22,004.49.

The Dow opened 325.28 points lower on Thursday, extending losses recorded in the previous session as the blue-chip index dropped to a fresh 2026 low.

Oil prices surged early on Thursday, with Brent jumping 3.73% to $111.38 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate up 1.15% at $97.43 a barrel as escalating strikes on Middle East energy infrastructure deepened fears of a global supply crunch.

The moves also came after a hot wholesale inflation report and the Federal Reserve's higher inflation projections fuelled fears that the US and Israel's conflict with Iran could push the US economy toward a stagflationtype backdrop of weaker growth and rising price pressures.

Energy markets were further rattled after Qatar said Iranian missile strikes had damaged Ras Laffan Industrial City, the world's largest LNG export hub, calling the attack a "dangerous escalation" and a violation of sovereignty. Qatar warned it reserved the right to respond under international law. The strike follows earlier Iranian threats against facilities in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, after Israel hit a gas processing site in Iran. Donald Trump later threatened to "massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field" if Iran attacks more facilities in Qatar.

Qatar had already suspended LNG production on 2 March following Iranian drone attacks on Ras Laffan, while Saudi Arabia and the UAE remained on alert after Israel's latest strike. The escalating attacks were seen as likely worsening the supply shock caused by the conflict, with tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which handles roughly 20% of all global oil flows, now largely blocked. The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan later said in a joint statement that they were ready to "contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait".

On the macro front, Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a decelerated pace in the week ended 14 March, according to the Labor Department, with initial jobless claims falling by 8,000 to 205,000 - below expectations of an increase of 2,000. Elsewhere, the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, dropped by 750 to 210,750, while continuing claims rose by 10,000 to 1.857m in the prior week. The Department of Labor also revealed that the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate came to 1.2%, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate.

On another note, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing index rose to 18.1 in March, its highest reading since September 2025, up from 16.3 in February and better than expectations for a reading of 10. March's increase marked the third consecutive month that the index was in positive territory, pointing to continued expansion in regional manufacturing. The index for current new orders slipped three points to 8.6, while the current shipments index rose 22 points to 22.2 - its highest reading since January - and the inventories index ticked up by two points to 1.4.

Moving on, Sales of new singlefamily homes fell sharply in January, dropping to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 587,000, according to the Census Bureau, down 17.6% from December's revised 712,000 pace and 11.3% lower year-on-year. The number of new houses for sale edged up 0.4% month-on-month to 476,000, though still remained 4% below January 2025. At the current sales rate, this equated to 9.7 months of supply, up from eight months in December and slightly above the ninemonth supply recorded at the same time a year earlier. Median sales prices slipped to $400,500, down 4.5% from December and 6.8% lower yearonyear, while the average sales price also declined, falling 5.9% on the month to $499,500, and 3.6% compared to January 2025.

Finally, US wholesale inventories fell 0.5% monthonmonth to $909.3bn in January, according to the Census Bureau, the sharpest decline since December 2024, following a downwardly revised 0.1% drop in December and missing expectations for a 0.2% increase. Nondurable goods inventories slid 1.5% after a 0.8% fall in December, while durable goods stocks were unchanged, following a 0.2% rise in November. On an annualised basis, wholesale inventories were 1% higher in January.

In the corporate space, professional services firm Accenture traded lower in early action despite posting a $0.08 Q2 earnings beat and revenues that topped estimates as earnings guidance fell short of Wall Street expectations, while Olive Garden parent company Darden Restaurants reported Q3 sales and adjusted diluted net earnings per share that were bang in line with expectations, up 5.9% at $3.3bn and and 5.4% at $2.95, respectively.

Still to come, FedEx will report earnings after the close.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $45.53 3.00%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $201.73 1.57%

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $38.00 0.97%

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $237.74 0.28%

Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $75.94 0.01%

Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%

Walmart Inc. (WMT) $0.00 0.00%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $0.00 0.00%

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $194.05 -0.06%

American Express Co. (AXP) $293.36 -0.08%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Boeing Co. (BA) $199.34 -3.12%

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $350.54 -2.55%

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $78.32 -1.74%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $389.24 -1.69%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $681.46 -1.59%

3M Co. (MMM) $143.09 -1.28%

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $249.44 -1.23%

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $326.65 -1.20%

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $312.41 -1.03%

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $145.03 -0.98%

S&P 500 - Risers

Apache Corp. (APA) $38.37 6.28%

Kohls Corp. (KSS) $12.65 5.49%

Accenture Plc (ACN) $203.98 4.72%

Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) $47.19 4.68%

FMC Technologies Inc. (FTI) $67.42 3.63%

Sl Green Realty Corp. (SLG) $39.64 3.28%

Brown Forman Corp. Class B (BF.B) $23.69 3.27%

Kinder Morgan Inc Kans (KMI) $33.58 3.08%

Coterra Energy Inc. (CTRA) $34.38 3.02%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $45.51 3.00%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Newmont Corporation (NEM) $97.42 -8.33%

DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $11.31 -6.33%

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $437.44 -5.84%

FMC Corp. (FMC) $13.61 -5.77%

Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $180.31 -5.71%

Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $52.59 -4.81%

Mattel Inc. (MAT) $14.83 -4.66%

Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $105.49 -4.55%

Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $211.32 -4.48%

General Electric Co. (GE) $287.71 -4.38%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $45.51 3.00%

Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $176.94 2.71%

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $123.00 1.53%

Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $239.48 1.53%

Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $227.68 1.50%

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $421.61 1.28%

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $154.68 1.08%

Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $209.64 0.50%

Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $527.69 0.49%

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $354.97 0.48%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $2.89 -9.40%

DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $11.31 -6.33%

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $437.44 -5.84%

Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $180.31 -5.71%

Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $105.49 -4.55%

Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $211.32 -4.48%

Tesla Inc (TSLA) $381.90 -4.40%

Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $73.90 -4.11%

Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,657.56 -4.07%

T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $203.12 -4.00%