Wall Street drops over 1% after Trump's comments dent Iran resolution hopes

palisade Street's briny indexes ​tumbled on th, in the endure session of a holiday-truncated hebdomad, after U.S. President Donald Trump signalled more aggressive attacks on ‌Iran, dampening expectations for a swift end to the Middle East conflict.

During a primetime address on Wednesday, Trump said military operations would be intensified in the next two to three weeks, in a sharp reversal from his earlier comments that the U.S. Would "pretty quickly" be out of Iran.

"The problem ​is that we didn't learn anything new. We're back in a place ​where we know less, not more, about how we find an off ramp to this war," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth.

Oil prices surged about seven per cent, taking Brent crude futures ​to $108 per barrel. Energy stocks in the U.S. Climbed, with Exxon Mobil and Chevron up over ⁠2 per cent each. The S&P 500 energy ⁠index added 2.4 per cent.

The spike pressured airlines. United Airlines, Delta Airlines and ‌American Airlines lost between 4 per cent and 6 per cent.

Separately, private credit jitters resurfaced after Blue Owl capped the amount investors can withdraw from two of its retail-focused funds, sending its shares down 8 per cent.

Other asset managers also fell with Apollo Global, Blackstone and Ares Management down between 3.5 per cent and 4.3 per cent. Financial shares shed 1.1 per cent. Technology stocks slid 1.8 per cent, with Micron, Lam ⁠Research and Sandisk down over 3 per cent each.

At 09:50 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 565.37 points, or 1.21 per cent, to 46,000.37, the S&P 500 lost 79.70 points, or 1.21 per cent, to 6,495.60 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 367.70 points, or 1.68 per cent, to 21,473.24.

The Russell ‌2000 index fell 1.3 per cent. Wall Street's fear gauge, the CBOE VIX index rose to 26.79 points after falling to an over one-week low on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, market expectations that an end to the war was near lifted sentiment. Wall Street's three indexes were on track for their biggest weekly rise in four months, and the first week ​of gains in six.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq logged their biggest monthly losses in a year in March, and Brent crude prices marked their strongest monthly performance ⁠on record.

Money market participants are no longer pricing in any easing from the Federal Reserve, per CME Group's FedWatch Tool, as ⁠energy-driven inflationary concerns have clouded the central bank's monetary policy outlook. They were anticipating two cuts before the conflict.

Friday's nonfarm payroll ⁠numbers ⁠will be in the spotlight after weekly jobless claims ​fell last week, but U.S. Markets will remain closed for the Good Friday holiday.

Investor will also focus on developments around Elon ​Musk's SpaceX, which confidentially filed for a ⁠U.S. Initial public offering on Wednesday, and is expected to target a $1.75 trillion valuation.

Globalstar's shares jumped 10 per cent after a report said Amazon is in talks to buy the low-earth-orbit communication satellites company.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 3.84-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 4.47-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq..

The S&P 500 posted 3 new 52-week highs and 12 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 13 new highs and ⁠91 new lows.

Canadian gas prices continued to inch up on Wednesday.

The average national retail price for a litre of gas stood at $1.80 on Thursday, with the average price in Vancouver hitting a whopping $2.14 per litre, Montreal at $1.95 per litre, Toronto at $1.82 per litre and Calgary sitting around $1.70 per litre, according to GasBuddy.com.

Gas prices in Newfoundland were averaging $2.05. Dawn Sharpe, who co-owns a gas station just outside of St. John's, said pump prices used to change just once a week. 

"More often now, it's every day or every couple days," she said. "People are just getting frightened."

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