Stocks ease off as oil climbs-Market update

Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow Jones were all down in early afternoon deals following a choppy morning session.

US stocks are seeing fresh losses as a brief upside seen in Tuesday’s session faded on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down nearly 350 points, or 1.0% in red, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were 0.93% and 0.97% down.

Struggles on Wall Street came after European stocks had ended lower amid market uncertainty around the Ukraine-Russia war. The declines across the European shares also followed inflation news out the UK.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed 1% lower, while Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC shed 1.3% and 1.2% respectively. In the UK, the FTSE 100 closed 0.2% down after data released Wednesday showed inflation rose 6.2% year-over-year in February for the country’s highest pace since March 1992.

The slowdown in stocks contrasted with another jump in oil prices on Wednesday. The international oil benchmark Brent crude rose more than 4% to break above $120 per barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate also gained, adding 3.7% to $113 per barrel.

The 10-year US Treasury yield eased off highs above 2.41% but still trended at levels near May 2019 highs. Rates ticked up on Monday after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank would look to be aggressive in efforts to tackle inflation.

And market observers think the surge might have an impact on the stock markets short term, although a swift flip in the global geopolitical landscape and an improvement across supply issues could return equities towards outperformance later in the year.