US stocks fall as inflation outlook worsens due to war

Wall Street stocks retreated early Thursday on the latest jump in energy prices as leading central banks decided to hold interest rates steady in light of inflation risk.

International benchmark Brent surged 10 percent before falling back while European gas rose 35 percent following the latest attacks on energy infrastructure in the Middle Eastern war.

About five minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.7 percent at 45,909.86.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.9 percent to 6,565.60, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 1.3 percent to 21,872.69.

“Obviously energy prices and the war is going to be front and center for a while until investors understand what the path forward is,” says Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital Management.

The European Central Bank raised its inflation forecast while voting to keep interest rates unchanged.

The Bank of England and Bank of Japan also kept rates steady, following the Federal Reserve action on Wednesday.

“The shift in rate-cut expectations has been a major buzzkill for the stock market, which is also sobering up at the sight of rising Treasury yields,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.

Among individual companies, Rivian jumped 7.5 percent after Uber announced it would invest up to $1.25 billion in the company to purchase 10,000 “fully autonomous” robotaxis with an option for 40,000 more. Uber rose 0.9 percent.

Micron fell 7.3 percent despite reporting quarterly records for revenues and other key financial benchmarks. Analysts pointed to profit taking after earlier increases.